Hashing Adds a New Level to Running

"ON ON!"

This call came from one of the people in front of me as we ran along a forest trail marked by random spots of flour sprinkled along the base of trees.  I followed the sound of the voice, trusting they had found yet another spot along the path.

Our objective on this cold day was simple: follow the flour trail markers through the woods, proceeding over any hills, walls, bushes or rivers which might get in the way.  We were to do this until we arrived at our final destination, a spot where this group of runners and friends would meet to enjoy a few tall and tasty glasses of beer.

A flour trail through the woods?  Drinking and running, together?  What in the world was I up to, you may ask?  I was running with the Baltimore-Annapolis Hash House Harriers (BAH3, for short) and taking part in a "hash," an activity which seeks to combine the best parts of running, orienteering and drinking.  Runners and walkers from the local area come together every Sunday at various locations around the area to run on trails blazed through forests, beaches, swamps, and occasionally through even wilder areas like Baltimore.

The group on this day-after-Christmas met near a trailhead in Clarksville.  It was a small group by normal BAH3 standards, consisting of just six runners who were able to leave their families on a holiday weekend to go out in a snowstorm and run through the woods. 

"We're real Darwin-award winners, huh?" chided one member of the group.  We all laughed, but had to admit the conditions were not optimal for a Sunday run.

BAH3 is an irreverent and eclectic collection of local runners, all over the age of 21 of course, who meet every Sunday to enjoy their favorite pastime.  This pun-loving group has a very limited formal organization; people here are trying to escape the formalities of the daily grind, not create a new one.  They are blissfully ego-free and instead simply look to enjoy a few moments amongst friends. 

The group's runs are set up with a variety of false trails, "back checks"  and markings which tell runners to return to a given point.   Setting up the trail in this manner serves a double purpose: It adds a layer of excitement to the run by making hashers look high and low to find the trail and it allows the slower runners to keep pace with the faster ones. 

When the fast guys and girls find these deceptive markings, they're forced to double back or look around for the trail; by the time they're back on course, the slower runners have caught up.  Trails which are set in this manner to allow for a maximum amount of socializing which, after all, is the point of BAH3.  The group doesn't care for "racists" who try to finish the course long before the rest of the pack.

Each hash concludes with the traditional "circle."  It is in the circle where violators of hash protocol are called out by their fellow members and made to drink Natty Boh as penance for their sins.  Tonight's violations were relatively minor:  several members were chastised for having missed several previous hashes, and the person who marked the trail (the "hare") was violated for having marked the trail with white flour in the middle of a snowstorm. 

In his defense, the hare had told us before leaving out that the "trail would be marked with white powder."  BAH3 can teach a person the danger of a pun.  Tonight's circle was rather sedate on account of the cold and snow, but normal circles can last for quite a while as people find more and more reasons to make one another drink.  Needless to say, the conversation tends to be more of an adult nature.

If you're interested in spicing up your workout routine, sharing company with a laidback group of friends or simply wish to learn more about hashing, I encourage you to visit a hash one of these Sundays.  Who knows, maybe one day you'll be the person leading the run and yelling "On on!" 

For more information about hashing and the BAH3, please visit their homepage at http://www.bah3.org.