The Hash House Harriers, otherwise styled as The Hash, HHH or H3, is an international group of non-competitive, social running clubs. Also known as ‘A Drinking Club With A Running Problem,’ the preferred beverage of consumption is beer, although in modern times, non alcoholic beverages are acceptable.

In the Beginning…

Hashing originated in December 1938 in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, now Malaysia. A group of British expats began meeting on Friday evenings to run in a game similar to the traditional British game of ‘Hare and Hounds‘. The idea of the game is a trail laid by one or two ‘Hares’ for the ‘Hounds’ to follow. Apart from the excitement of chasing the Hare and finding the trail, Harriers reaching the end of the trail could look forward to social activities afterwards.

The original members included Albert Stephen Ignatius Gispert (G), Cecil Lee, Frederick Thomson (Horse), Ronald Bennett (Torch), Eric Galvin, H.M. Doig, and John Woodrow.

Albert Stephen Ignatius Gispert (“G”), 1903-1942, is internationally recognised as the founder of the modern Hash House Harriers.

On-Up!

‘G’ suggested the group be named the “Hash House Harriers” after the Selangor Club Annex, also known as the ‘Hash House‘ after ‘Hash,’ the British slang for bad food thrown together to try and improve it.

‘G’ was killed on 11 February 1942 in the Japanese invasion of Singapore, (commemorated by annual Gispert Memorial Runs) and Hashing in it’s original form more or less ceased after the the Malayan Campaign. In 1946 however, several of the remaining original members reformed the group and in1962, a second chapter was founded in Singapore by Ian Cumming, before the idea spread through the Far East and the South Pacific, Europe, and North America, expanding rapidly during the mid-1970s.

The original objectives of the Hash House Harriers as recorded on the club registration card dated 1950 are: