Hash House What?

Hashing is a non-competitive cross country run through varied terrain. Hashers follow a trail set by "hares". The FRB's or FROP'S get to find the trail; so the BOP's and SCB's don't run nearly as far. Hashing is to competitive running what slo-pitch is to major league baseball. If you enjoy good times and a few (or many, many) cold beers you're hasher material.

Hashing has a colourful history. In 1938, British ex-pats founded the "Mother Hash" in Kuala Lumpur. Today there are thousands of hashes around the world. You will find at least one hash in pretty much every major city on the planet.

If you want to learn more about the Hash House Harriers: ZiPpY, of the Pike's Peak Hash House Harriers, has created a Press Kit and Flying Booger, at www.half-mind.com, has written a primer.


There are 3 Active Hashes in Calgary

  1. Calgary Hash House Harriers : Canada's oldest hash (and hosts of this website). They run Monday nights at 7:00 PM (next run). Cost is $5 for hash cash (this does not include beer at the On-In).

    The Calgary HHH Mismanagement is listed on our website.

    The CH3 was founded by Mike "Oombala" Carr and other accountants, mainly from Clarkson Gordon (now Ernst & Young). "Oombala" got his Hash "training" in Jakarta, Indonesia.

    Their first run was on May 30, 1983; starting from The Portuguese Society of Calgary, 2716 - 16th Street S.E., Calgary. There were 15 people at Calgary's first run and the Hares were Mike Carr and Mike Manderson. Mike Carr now lives (but no longer Hashes) in Houston, Texas. Mike Manderson lives in Aberdeen, Scotland and also no longer Hashes. Stuart "On-In" Crichton is the only hasher left who was at the first run

  2. Calgary Full Moon Hash : Oddly enough, these hashers run once a month under the light of the full moon (next run).

    Full Moon Mismanagement are:
    Grand MasterLinda "Mucky Dip" MacPhail
    Religious Advisor tba
    Hash Cashtba

    The CFMH was founded by Doug "Dick Tater" Drury (Dreary to CH3), Stuart "On-In" Crichton, Lana "Clutch Bag" Crichton and Peter "Sister Maria" Kabatek. Their first run took place immediately prior to AIH'93 on July 31, 1993 under the full moon. The run started from the parking lot in front of the pub in Richmond Square. The pub isn't there anymore but I think the name was Buffalo Bobs. The hares were the four founders.

  3. Rocky Mountain Hash House Harriers : The newest Calgary hash is a Saturday afternoon, co-ed, bi-weekly Hash that runs in the Calgary area (within a 90 minute drive) from April to November and also in February (Xcountry ski theme). Trails are 50 to 90 minutes long, in the woods and mountains, preferably with a beer stop enroute. (hint, no roads or sidewalks, just wild animals, bear Moose, elk, deer, cougars if RubberMaid shows up) Hash Cash is $5.00, collected prior to the run, which also gets you orange food (BBQ smokies on occasion) and Big Rock beer. (next run)

    It was founded by Don "Lumberjack" Edwards, Don "007" Vandergrift, Marie "Party Pumper" Kellow and Sandra "Right Bun" Reddekopp. Their first run was Saturday, June 5, 1999 at 2:00 pm; in West Bragg Creek, Alberta. The run was hared by the founders.

    RMH3 mismanagement are:

    Grand Master

    : Karmin "Hyena" McKay

    RA

    : Doug "Dastardly" Long

    Choirmasters

    : Hardly, Skewbic Hare, Dreary... and whoever else is "voluntold" by the RA

There are 3 Hashes that are No Longer Active in Calgary

  1. Calgary Only Goes Sometimes (COGS) Bike Hash : is a semi-seasonal, mixed, bike hash, with a mixture of on-road and off-road (next ride).

    COGS Bike Hash had it's first ride on Saturday June 7th, 1997. 28 folks were in attendance for the ride, laid by Lakey (later renamed Biker Bitch) and P'tooey.

    COGS mismanagement are:

    Big Wheel (Grand Master)

    : Doug "Dastardly" Long

    Spokesperson (RA)

    : (RA rotates)

    hash Cash

    : DavisSharon "Twisty" Langer and Brent "Tool Time" Marchand

  2. Dog Hash :

    In the Dog Hash, the dogs hold the actual positions (hare, mismanagement), and the human hashers merely offer assistance. The first outing of the Dog Hash was April 21, 2001.

    DH Founders were Sputnik (aka Chase) and Houston. The dogs were ably assisted by human slaves: Left Bun, I Like Beige, and Right Bun. (next run)

    DH mismanagement are:

    Top Dog (Grand Master)

    : Ned Kelly (aka Rockey) - assisted by Karen "Moonshine" Kraus

    RA

    : rotating RA

    Bone Counter
    (Hash Cash)

    : Cold Cock (aka Scookum) - assisted by Andrew "Suck Her Prunes"

  3. Calgary Kid's Hash : RIP (1997-1999)

    The CKH was founded by Jan "Bag Lady" Cuthbertson, Ron "Peekaboo" Goerzen and their son "Bag o' Poo", their first run was on April 23, 1997. The run was hared by the founders and the on-in was a barbeque in their back yard The CKH ran on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month of the summer.


How to Join

Joining the Hash House Harriers is easy... just show up at our next run. If you have half a mind to join us... that's all you need.... that and a waiver....

The Waiver

Hashing is an inherently stupid and occasionally dangerous pastime, but some people won't take responsibility for their own decisions. To protect our flabby asses from these selfish jerks the Calgary Hash House Harriers have created a waiver for you to sign. If, after your first run, you want to run with us again, you must sign a waiver. After you've signed your waiver, give it to hash cash. Remember: you can hurt yourself if you want to, and if you hurt yourself it's your own damn fault!

What to Wear

Wear clothing that you will be comfortable running in.

Never, ever, wear new running shoes! You may have to drink beer out of them.

Bring dry clothing to change into after the run. In winter, wet sweaty clothing is very cold. In the summertime we are a cross-country running club. Cross-country running can include forests, rivers, creeks and streams, mud, slues, swamps, sewer pipes and other shiggy.


Bring Your Dog, but...

Thanks to some problem critters (both the 2-legged and the 4 legged kind), we now have the following rules for all Hashers and their dogs:

  1. Dogs are not allowed in the circle
  2. Dogs remain on a visible short leash at all times
  3. Dogs are permitted at hasher's houses only with permission of the house owner
  4. Any dog that bites will be banned
  5. Pick up after your dog
  6. Stay out of the way! Dogs must remain at the back of the pack. If the pack turns, move out of the way or cross the street. Communicate that you and your dog are stopping or crossing the path of a hasher

If these rules are not followed, we will ban dogs from the hash!


Counting Runs

Every 50 runs or so, Calgary Hashers down-down up to a half-yard of beer and then receive an award (ie. they chug-a-lug 40 oz of beer and get a cheap trinket). Every hasher wants large amounts of free beer as often as possible; this is why we count runs.

Hash Cash

We usually collect $5 from each hasher at every run. Visitors and New Boots don't pay hash cash, but they do pay for beer. They should visit the hash cash table so they can get official credit for the run and sign a waiver Hash Cash uses a convenient form to check off hashers' names as they pay up. The form is used to update a spiffy FileMaker Pro database, which we use to print even more forms


Return to Calgary Hash HouseHarriers' home page


A big thank you to the Calgary Unix Users' Group for providing this space!