We are a drink ing club with a running Problem!

Beer is bloody delicious. End of. You probably won’t argue with that. But what can make beer taste even better is a spot of physical exertion and the company of good mates. Enter the Hash House Harriers: worldwide groups who combine running and drinking. A running club with a drinking problem...or a drinking club with a running problem? We chase down Chris Retter from the Bucharest Hash House Harriers to find out.

‘We are a drinking club with a running problem!’, says Chris. ‘The Hash House Harriers comprises 2,000 hashing clubs (or “kennels”) around the world. The original Hash House Harriers club was formed by a group of British military officers and expats living in Malaysia, who started meeting every Monday afternoon to exercise off the excess from the weekend before. The reason they are called the Hash House Harriers is because many of them used to eat at a local restaurant called the Hash House.

Bucharest Hash House Harriers (BH3) was founded in 1987. Being a club needs organisation; for Hash clubs that means a “mismanagement team” comprising at the very least of a General Manager (GM) and Religious Adviser (RA), the very important master of ceremonies. 

The Hash Meetup 

BH3 meet up once a week on Sunday afternoons. To date we have completed 1067 meetups. Anybody can join, male or female, and you don’t have to be good runner. But a little fitness and a strong liver are very useful attributes; plus a sense of humour and the ability to not take yourself too seriously. Be prepared: on your first meetup you will be known as a (Hash) Virgin!

First, The Run

 We get the running done first, which for many Hashers tends to be more walking than running. The running “problem” involves a trail set by a volunteer member of the club, the “hare” for the day. He or she (a female Hasher is a “Harriette”) sets the trail using blobs of flour for the runners/walkers to follow. The Hashers follow the trail of flour to confirm they are on the right path. There are also false trails ending with an ‘X’ to slow down the fastest runners. This tends to keep the group together. The fittest doesn’t necessarily finish first, and there is no “winner”. 

During the Hash run, there are typically photo stops, beer stops (BS) or even shot stops (SS), where beer or other beverages are consumed. 

Then the Beer Circle

This is where the beer comes into its own! When we get to the end of the trail there is a closing ceremony or “circle” where Hashers are called out for errors, omissions or ridiculous things they may have done on the run, such as shortcutting, fast running or loitering. The list can be pretty long and frivolous, depending on the RA. Every time a Hasher gets called out and charged with the offence the penance is drinking a “down down”. This “down down” is a measure of beer and is a means of punishing, rewarding or merely recognizing an individual for any action or behaviour according to the customs or traditions of the group. But it’s not just beer; the “down down” is accompanied by a short Hash song. There are lots of songs at the circle; songs which have been handed down through the years. Many of them drinking songs, although some of them are quite raunchy and are unique to hashing!

We all have Hash names which means charges are not taken too personally: 

The GM is called “Homo Erect Us”, The RA is “Snappy” and we have a “Tooth Fairy” (a dentist, obviously). Many European Hashes also have a Cunning Linguist amongst them (a female translator)… 

The On-After

BH3 is a very social Hash, and after all the hard work and drinking we socialise - usually in a bar, beer hall or restaurant. In summer this might be at a concert or festival, which there are plenty of in Bucharest. In winter it’s more likely to be in someone’s apartment or house.  

Special events 

Bucharest might be a bit far to travel to for a weekend (though we do get weekend visitors), but like most European Hash clubs we have at least one special international event.

This is the Transylvania Hash held at Halloween in, you guessed it, Transylvania. We book the whole hotel, in order not to embarrass the other guests. Thankfully the hotel staff and management take it all in their stride.  

The Beermeister 

We now have a Hash Beermeister. This is a new and deeply revered position in our Hash, because once we procured mini kegs from Dark Farm we of course needed to make our own beer! But we’re still on a learning curve.

To find your nearest Hash in the UK: www.ukh3.org.uk or search on Facebook.