Hashing is a different way to exercise.  A description of a Hash ‘club’ is “a social (sometimes drinking) club with a running problem. It comes from a sport loosely modeled after the old English schoolboy game of “hares and hounds”.  It is basically orienteering without a compass, instead there is a trail set with arrows draw by chalk or flour.   Participants move from point to point at varying speeds (run, walk, slow walk) usually in unfamiliar suburbs around Brisbane.  At the end of the trail there is a shared meal and of course some more socialising.    

RULES AND REGULATIONS

For the benefit of those who have recently joined the Brisbane Harriettes and most definitely for the enlightenment of others who must have wondered whether our Hash does have any guidelines to ‘hashing’ – the answer is “too bloody right”.

AS A HARE:

Firstly, there is no such thing as a cancelled or postponed run (except maybe Christmas Eve), hares set the trail that will be followed for that evening.  The Hares  also organise the catering for the evening, however to make it easier the committee gives them a amount of money to cover costs and each harriette brings along their plate, cutlery, cup and a chair.  

The Trail: The Hounds follow the trail. If the Hares can set the trail in 1.1/2 – 2 hours then it is long enough, allow for a 1 hour walk/run. The aim is to keep the pack together so that they all finish at approximately the same time. There are various ways to do this, CHECKS, REGROUPS, FALSE TRAILS. Other tactics are the LOOPS and REGROUPS.

The Calls:

ON ON                                 Every runner calls ON ON when a trail marker (arrow) is sighted, especially the front runners.

ARE YOU                             If ON ON is not being called in front of you, then call out ARE YOU.

                                           Runners in front respond with ON ON,  CHECKING, or FALSE TRAIL.

The sound of the horn is also used to indicate that Hash Horn is on the true trail.  Hash Horns should only sound the horn if they are on the true trail.

 CHECKING                        Called by the front runners as they look for the ON ON arrows following the CHECK  marker.

 FALSE TRAIL                   Called by the checking runners when they suspect the trail is not true or they come to a FALSE TRAIL marker.

 CHECK BACK                   Called when a runner comes upon the CHECK BACK marker.

ON BACK or ON ON         Called to let the front-runners on a false trail know the true trail has been found.

Running is co-operative, as the pack works together to find the trail. Physical fitness varies greatly. Some people run marathons and the only exercise others may get is the slow jog/walk on a Monday evening. Do not compete: races are for horses or the Olympics. Short cutting is frowned upon, and hopefully mentioned in the run report. Ensure that front-runners who are checking false trails hear the ON BACK or ON ON calls when the true trail is found, especially on noisy/ busy streets.