Half-minds,
See Haz.
See Haz run.
See trail.
See Haz run trail.
Watch Haz set awesome trail (and, yes, you who have run his trails know what I'm talking about0.
I think somewhere I still have a pair of mud-encrusted shoes from one of his forays into the dark unknown.
Fortunately, he's articulate enough to explain *why* this is important. Read on and you'll understand why, too.
On On!
Watergate
What is our Purpose?
Let me start by adding some emoticons so you know I am
saying this with all sincerity
^~^ :-`) (_|_) oops, that's a bottom (or B**bs
on the bar) . . . This rant is not about the hundreds of hash clubs that
run great trails every week, this is a caveat of a trend I have seen over the
past few years. And to tell you the truth, this is primarily about
American hashes, not the rest of the world.
The issue of what makes the thing we do a hash has been debated on many
occasions over the years. If you look back to the early days of
hashing, it was not about a party or a circle. It was the trail, which
was soon "followed" by beer to quench the thirst. I get frustrated when
parties, week night get together for drinks, or what the haberdasher is going
to sell become more important than putting on your running shoes and getting a
bit sweaty. The trail has to be the focal point, the thing that makes us
different from all the other social organizations out there. I enjoy the
socializing and partying, and I also enjoy the singing of hash songs and some
down-downs, but if there is no trail it is just a party.
I have seen complete regressions in hash clubs from a nice trail running hash,
to a small group of people who have nothing better to do than show up at the
bar. It starts when some people show up drinking beer at the start, then
more are attracted to that, then that attitude grows, and then some people say
I'm just gonna walk and drink beer, then they say, well, I'll just meet y'all
at the end, then more people do that, then you have four hashers running
trail, and 25 people who just show up in street clothes at the end. No
one ever says anything because someone might get their feelings hurt, or that
we are non-inclusive. I have seen a couple of hashes go through this
transition, and several others that are headed in this direction. One of
these great hash clubs that used to run with 60+ weekly is now about 5-10
members and they decide after people show up if they are actually going to lay
a trail or just hang out at the bar (apparently the rest of the pack has made
their decision, they spend their $5 at the supermarket and drink their beer
elsewhere).
Here is another one, this one was about 10 years ago. We had a full moon
HHH, with a nice crew of about 20+ hashers (which is good for a full moon
hash) that showed up regularly. Well, a couple Navy Seals were invited
out and loved it, then they invited out their friends. We soon had a
dozen of them, they started showing up late, and after a few months it became
their first stop on Friday night to come out and drink all our beer for the
mere $5 and then going out on the town. We had to ask them not to come
back anymore.
In the end, the hash will attract the people it caters to. That means a
couple things: First, if the primary purpose of the club is to get beer and
food and decide to give the trail no effort, eventually no one will give it
effort. Many will give in and not run and the real joggers will find
other ways to get their run in and not waste their time coming out. Secondly,
the word of mouth will bring out new members that come for the party instead
of the real reason we are a hash. Refer to the original Charter:
From the 1938 charter of the Kuala Lumpur Hash House Harriers:
- To promote physical fitness among our members (self
explanatory)
- To get rid of weekend hangovers (yup, no rocket science here either)
- To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer (some may miss the point
here, but this means doing the trail - then drink)
- To persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel (this is
group motivation to get in some exercise)
OK, now you can call me a bunch of names if it makes you feel good. I
think the hash is for people who want to exercise and socialize, emphasis on
the exercise part. Not a marathon club! Not for only the most
physically fit . . . BUT, where "developing a thirst" is the focus of effort.
I know this may seem extremist, radical, or any number of other rude things,
so shoot me. If that is what the pack chooses, that is fine, the pack
rules . . . But I'll be out with a trail running hash.
ON-ON,
Hazukashii
Instructions: Please put to create a blank line between paragraphs.<p></p>
New Paragraph starts here like this ...