girlfriend does hashing – run around for a bit following a trail, then enforced sing songs and drinking games with other toffs. seems pretty contrived and dumb to me. am i missing something? instinct tells me to avoid at all costs.

ive never heard of it.

from what you say, im glad ive not.

Well the army do it around here at nightime. I don't think they sing songs etc tho, just follow bits of flour left on the floor – seems more interesting than just running in circles…

I've done a similar thing before… run 10k as quickly as possible, go to the pub and drink six pints of cider then sing a little bit on the way home… does that count ?

Kev

An ex of mine used to be into this…she described it as 'a drinking club with a running problem rather than a running club with a drinking problem'. It all seemed pretty harmless to be honest. Certainly no worse than the cycling/mountain biking clubs/groups of mates that I've encountered over the years.

If all else fails…just remember the 12% rule…and smile.

the running and drinking bits are fine. it's the contrived red-coat style 'fun' aspect that makes me chunder.

Haven't heard of this for years – it was sort of popular in NZ in the 70's or 80's, can remember doing one of these on a school camping trip. Minus the booze, unfortunately.

pffft, cant legally call it hashing if there is no hash involved. shirly.

Is it like dogging?

It all looks pretty harmess, if a bit contrived.

Andy

My girlfriend's parents have been hashing for years. I did my first one with them at the weekend and didn't quite get it. I don't run very often, but when I do, I enjoy it in the same way as I enjoy some types of bike ride, getting into a rhythm, turning the brain off, enjoying the outdoors.

Looking at the ground for blobs of sawdust, following false trails and sneaky tricks by the guy who laid the hash, doubling back, and shouting funny phrases into the quiet countryside seems to spoil what could be a nice run.

I dare say it's all about who you're with and the social side probably outweighs the running; I'm sure I could be persuaded to give it another go, but I can't see myself volunteering.

hang on a moment, it involves a bit of exercise, lots of booze and enforced entertainment with "look at me" types, how does this differ in any way from a singlespeed event?

Contrived. Exactly.

What's the 12% rule?

My question is "Hashing – inconsiderate litter louts with a lack of respect for nature?"

harmless fun.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaah… hashing.. THAT's what they were doing.

I thought it was some kind of militant Christian youth club training exercise..

I did one once in Bahrain. It's quite good fun. Someone sets a trail with blobs of flour. The trail is full of deadends. So, the fast ones run along and find the good trail and the slow ones have the benefit of seeing where the fast ones make the mistakes. Designed well it should allow everyone to finish at roughly the same time. The one I did there was none of this gung-ho type attitude mentioned above. Just a big bunch of people going for a run and finishing with a beer and bbq (and sheesha pipe in Bahrain courtesy of the locals). Seems to be a big ex-pat thing.

Doh !, Ned, you had to ask…

Dave. You're initial instinct is the right one, imo. Let her get on with it.

Whatever makes'em happy, eah ?.

the impression she gives is all jolly hockey stick zanyness. i can run and drink but to be told to play games and sing etc??? i think not

A bit off colour maybe…

http://field-negro.blogspot.com/2007/05/12-rule.html

I was running reps on the hill with a headtorch once and came across a group of them. They all started following me. It was a while before I could convince them I wasn't of the faith.

It was a slightly Life of Brian moment 🙂

I'm one…hasher that is. Have founded a couple of hash groups over the 25 years I've been doing it as well.

It's harmless fun, and intended as a sociable form of running. In my experience it attracts people who might not otherwise consider running/walking, or in fact any form of exercise. It's set up to be deliberately non-competitive (all the false trails etc mean that everyone finishes at about the same time, but the faster folks have covered more ground).

The songs and drinking kinda reinforce this – it's also totally non-hierarchical, no-one cares whether you're a CEO, a Brain Surgeon or a Binman (we have all 3 on one of the groups I run with). The nicknames everyone receives also support this – everyone is brought down to the same level.

The social/after run bit is the most important. Most of my good pals I've met through hashing over the years.

It also works a bit as an informal 'international brotherhood'. I've pitched up in several strange cities and countries, have contacted the hash, and thus tapped directly into an instant social life and source of local info. In many cases, I've also been given a bed for the night and all sorts of other help.

We tout our group as running for people who don't like running. If you fancy it, see http://www.hhh.org.uk and find a local group.

If you want to be snotty and decide it's "jolly hockey sticks" then I guess that's up to you.

Littering?. I think you'll find that flour disappears after the first rain – hardly a toxic nuisance either. Some folks love criticising, don't they?.

Definately no worse than SS'ing 😆

Good video link up there by the way. Was shot in Embra and Glesga. I was the hare (trail layer) for the run where everyone is wearing red dresses 😀

God it sounds awful.

I assume people go 'hashing' as they are generally too annoying to be accepted in pubs? 😉

Beer drinking is a serious business and should never be sullied by the playing of games or singing.

Thanks for the explanation Paul. Sounds truly grim. I will avoid at all costs.

Did JOGLE last year with a Hasher. Met up with all his hashing mates in a pub in Edinburgh after they'd started the Edinburgh marathon – don't think they finished it.

Seemed to be a worldwide phenomena – I recently did some t shirts for a Hash in Borneo of all places….

Definitely not jolly hockey sticks though – nothing like mountain biking.. 😉

I've done quite a lot, and am even a "member" of my local hash (ie I've been named – my hash name is "stitches", which is at least partly down to a major injury I got riding a MTB!) Yes I suppose it might look a bit like contrived games from the outside, but it certainly doesn't feel like that. The thing is without the markings on the ground, the rules and the calls it simply wouldn't work at all – the point being that the faster runners get to run further down false trails giving slower runners a chance to catch up.

I don't know about sing songs – can only assume you're referring to the one very short song which precedes the downing of full pints by those selected. If you object to this, then you presumably also object to the sort of drinking games "real men" play?

Do you get this judgemental and prejudiced about everything you haven't actually tried, Dave?

Do you get this judgemental and prejudiced about everything you haven't actually tried

What like poking myself in the eyes with hot needles…..Hhmmmmm.

Something tells me that I don't need to try that, to know its not for me.
🙄

Of course, we're not all box-tickers though. Stitches…***cringe***

CC.

Paul McG – have you got rid of those horrible bloody tartan lycras you used to run in yet?…

Pyro

I have enough self-awareness and reason to work out if something appeals to me or not. and you're selling it so well. the 'real men' (oh i feel so inadequate) i know drink as and when they see fit. not as and when told to by someone called stitches wearing a red dress.

your defensiveness is cute though

the running, marking the ground etc, hell, even drinking beer all sounds fine. the contrived fun bollox sounds **** – in my 'not a real man' opinion.

and you shouldn't judge my opinion if you haven't tried it 😉

I actually lol'd at some of the attitudes exhibited above. I mean, mountainbiking, really is a bunch of mostly overweight lycra (LYCRA FFS!) wearing middle-aged arrogant wannabes with more money than sense, prancing about the hill/woods for a few hourse in a cicrle. Er, but yeah, biking's better than hashing eh?

Get a grip fellas.

It's a sociable format for cross-country running. The false trails allow slower runners to catch up with the faster ones.

You'll see muddy groups racing round obscure trails in the woods, often at night with torches, and finishing at the pub.

You wouldn't catch cyclists doing that would you?

I wasn't aware 'real men' played drinking games. I thought they just got on with the business of drinking. That's always provided more than enough entertainment for me and my mates.

That said I don't think anyone who thinks their worth is determined by how much booze they can put away can ever say it makes them a better man than anyone else. A drunk perhaps…

kit/buzz, at no point did I have issue with the activity of running around the country or city, or the drinking afterward. it's the contrived nature of the games etc. 'on saturday, we'll have some spontaneous fun' – enforced enjoyment? if that's your thing, fine, i doubt if it's mine.

The thing is, iDave, the vast majority of it is all about running round the country and city and having a drink afterwards. The "contrived games" bit is a tiny, tiny part of it, and surely in your line you should be able to appreciate the "team building" aspect to that. Can't say I'm the biggest fan of enforced downing of pints – if it was a big part of it it might be an issue, but it's not.

I have enough self-awareness and reason to work out if something appeals to me or not.

Really? So you're prepared to judge something based on hearsay and your prejudices without having actually experienced it? Yep that's extremely self-aware and well reasoned.

LOL at "Captain-Crash" and "iDave" thinking there's something weird about having "stitches" as a nickname!

I take part in 3 of them here in Beijing.
Beijing HHH which runs around the crappy streets of Beijing.
The Beijing Full Moon Hash, which as it name says, runs around the streets of Beijing only during Full Moons.
Then there is the Boxer Hash, which is the 3rd Sat of every month, goes way outside of Beijing, into some truly wonderful countryside. The runs are slightly more demanding (I hared one early this year, 22km of running, with over 2000m of climbing :D)
It also leads to some excellent trails for me to go and scout on, and try on the MTB.
After a run like that, it's okay to have a beer or two.

Shouldnt knock people having a bit of harmless fun and exercise… but they look like a right bunch of fannies.

(I often look like a fanny too so it takes one to know one i suppose)

surely in your line you should be able to appreciate the "team building" aspect to that.

what is 'my line'?

one of the biggest fallacies is 'team building' in that kind of setting. it suits certain personality types who are quite often magnificently unaware of anyone else's preferences.

cripes. talk about a sense of humour failure or three. it's not for you ( it's not for me, either – i don't do running, and to be fair i found the whole downdown thing a bit odd, but whatever works, and traditions usually have perfectly reasonable origins ), fine, but it's how some people meet other people. a run around in the woods, and a few beers after. hardly the masons is it? ( i don't really have a problem with them, either, but that's another thread ).

LOL at "Captain-Crash" and "iDave" thinking there's something weird about having "stitches" as a nickname

Computer geek runs around in red dress answering to the name "Stitches" while chasing a line of flour on the ground, before breaking into song with half pint of shandy in his hand.
Does so to make friends, since hes too scared to ride his bike.

PMSL @ aracer

I'm up for live and let live, and if hashing is for some of the folk on here, thats great.
But then to try to knock someone cos they know themselves well enough to realise that something isn't for them, without needing to try it.
Is really narrow minded, judgemental.
🙄

CC.