History

The Hash House Harriers (HHH) was started in Selangor, Malaya in 1938 by a group of Brits including ‘Torch’ Bennett and A.S. ‘G’ Gispert, the latter apparently the moving spirit behind the club. The 'Hash House' was the mildly derogatory nickname given (for its unimaginative, monotonous food) to the Selangor Club Chambers, Kuala Lumpur, by those who dined there. The HHH duly celebrated its 100th run on 15 August 1941, but 17 runs later was forced into temporary hibernation by the arrival of the Japanese. Gispert himself was sadly killed in the fighting in Singapore on 11 February 1942, whilst serving with the Argylls.

Post World War II, it was nearly a year before the survivors reassembled. 'Torch' Bennett put in a claim for the lost hash mugs, tin bath and two old bags on the fund set up with proceeds from confiscated Japanese property and run No.1 was around the race-course in August 1946. A second Hash was founded in Singapore in 1962 and ten Hashes celebrated the 1,000th post-war Hash run in K.L. on 12 March 1966. Sydney was the first Hash created outside Malaysia and Singapore in 1967, but even by the time of K.L.'s 1,500th run in 1974, the total was only 35, so the subsequent explosion has been spectacular indeed. The total is now around 1,600 clubs in over 150 countries and all continents (including Antarctica whose GM I had the privilege to meet on a Madrid run in 2005).

The first attempts at an Interhash were the K.L. 1,000th post-war run in 1966, and the 1,500th run in 1974, when attendance was something over 300. The first genuine Interhash in 1978 in Hong Kong broke new ground with an attendance of about 800. Subsequent Interhashes have grown substantially: Kuala Lumpur 1980 (1,200 hashers), Jakarta 1982 (1,300), Sydney 1984 (1,654), Pattaya 1986 (2,143), Bali 1988 (2,450), Manila 1990 (1,400), Phuket 1992 (2,500), Rotorua 1994 (3,650), Cyprus 1996 (4,500), K.L. 1998 (7,500), Hobart 2000 (4,500) Goa 2002 (3,500), Cardiff 2004 (5,000), Chiang Mai 2006 (6,000), Perth (4,200), and Kuching in Borneo (4,500). The next is in Borobodur, Indonesia in 2012.

Hashing stayed popular within England and its islands for many centuries before being exported further afield. France long having been a popular destination, Agincourt (1415) and Waterloo (1815) are still well remembered, although some Interhashes of the time did get a bit out of hand, Joan of Arc’s bonfire party at Orleans in 1431 for example.

Extract from an alternative Hash history, Wessex Hash T-shirt