Welcome to the Philadelphia Hash House Harriers. We are the Philadelphia chapter of the world's largest running organization. The Philly chapter was founded in December, 1977, and has run nearly 1600 weekly runs. We run each Saturday in the winter at 3:00pm. From May until mid-September, our runs are held Tuesdays at 6:30pm.
What is hashing?
HASHING IS:
A non-competitive trail run of four to six miles. Speed is not important. The trail often takes us off road, off trail, and into the muck and mire. We like swamps, stinky things, water crossings, storm sewers, briars, poison ivy, and other tortures. The only thing we avoid is running in traffic. Our runners are not that smart and might dent cars if we encouraged traffic running.
A great way to meet people of all ages from diverse backgrounds (must be 21) in a very informal setting. The run gets those endorphins flowing and the beer fine tunes the mood.
FREE. There is no charge for our runs which include beer and dinner. That said, if you come out to four runs, we ask that you contribute $20 annually to our treasury. If you come out regularly, we ask that you hare a run annually which will entail setting the trail and providing the beer and dinner.
HASHING IS NOT:
A drunken brawl. We like to run and drink, sometimes at the same time. We don't want people who just come to get trashed. The beer is our heritage and part of the fun but we are not a bunch of jackasses. Alternatively, some of our most beloved members don't drink at all; we don't want to pressure anybody.
Politically
correct. Part of the fun is to kick back to your carefree collegiate
days. Trash talking is encouraged and hashers are given silly hash
nicknames to foster the atmosphere. If you don't have a sense of humor
and a sense of the ironic, you probably will be offput by the group.
My hash name is Dipshit. I have been trying to convince my mother for
years that they call me that because I am the smartest member of the hash --
she still doesn't buy it.
Only for the elite runners. While walkers may get left in the woods, the "pack" only averages about a fifteen minute pace including time spent standing around waiting for the faster runners to find the trail. At the front of the pack, the FRB's (short for Front Running Bastards) run about a seven minute pace. If you race, you will be tripped. As a rule of thumb, if you can run three miles without stopping at ANY speed, you can keep up. At the other end, if you are an elite runner, come on out anyway -- just do your workouts earlier in the day and use the hash as a release.
Hashing started in Malaysia just prior to the outbreak of WWII hostilities. Now, with well over 1000 chapters, it's the largest running organization in the world. But the heck with history, just come give it a try. We are a group of people who like to get together weekly for a non-competitive romp through the woods and some beer and food.
We follow piles of flour that mark the trail. Every quarter mile or so, we come to a "check" which is marked with an "X." At that point, the next mark may be hard to find. The faster
runners scout out for the next mark (beware the false trail!) and the less energetic runners stand at the check and catch their breath. When true trail is found, it's "on, on!" to more trail. Occasionally, there is a beer stop in the run with some liquid carbo-loading available.
For information on our next run, click here. The link gets updated a few days prior to the run. So if it is a few days out-of-date, check back closer to the next run. If you have questions about hashing, please email "Dip," our webmaster, at dipshit@phillyhash.com.
That's about it. If you are interested, come give it a try.
