Hashing – a Two Generation Phenomenon

by Urine

Another Eurohash just gone by – and while it was truly excellent to meet up with so many old friends again, I am sure I am not the only one to notice – we are all growing older together. Now while this is not totally surprising, there are some disturbing implications.

Some more background. Looking at the age demographic of those attending Interhash, in Chiang Mai it was approximately 51.8, in Cardiff it was 50, and in Cyprus 10 years ago it was 45. Take a look around most average hash packs – even discarding Rumson, who were born old – it is rare to see a pack with a good supply of young runners. If you notice these things, mismanagement positions tend to circulate among the same people, year after year. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but where is the new blood coming through into the ranks of the hash?

There ARE a couple of honourable exceptions; Every Day is Wednesday H3 in DC is both young and numerous – a classic dating hash, if you like, and City H3 here in London boasts (if that's the right word) a comparatively young pack – compared with the other London-based H3s.

Even overseas, former bastions of hashing such as Manila, Seoul and Jakarta are faced with shrinkage and an ageing population. The Creek H3 in Dubai is still running with many or most of the same runners I remember from 15 years ago, only a lot less of them. Expats these days find their employers look distinctly askance when they want to leave work early on Mondays to go hashing.

Now I am most surely NOT one of those boring old farts who insist that hashing should never change, and who deplore the move of Interhash from the immediate Pacific rim. Hashing will be what it will be, but what IS the lookout?

Are we going to continue until we drop dead – and then suddenly there won't be a hash anymore? Are we going to get zimmer trails laid? Wheelchair friendly trails?

When we finally are forced to give up hashing – i.e. Die, what happens to Interhash, Eurohash and Nash-hash. 4 years ago, nobody wanted to host Nash Hash in the UK, until Stretch stood up and announced that he would put a team together to put it on (an excellent event at Westonbirt near Gloucester). Interhash itself gets bigger pretty well each time, and more and more difficult to put on, as the worlds of Health and Safety, and petty bureaucracy intrude on the hash world.

Is it possible to attract younger members? How does hashing compete with all of the other pressures on a young person's time, and all the other attractions available as sport or entertainment. How can hashing be made more attractive to more people – or should we even try?

Finally, Hashers en-masse have long had a tendency to get their kit off when celebrating – and this itself becomes a less attractive proposition with the passing of the years.

So where the hell is the hash world going in the next twenty years?

Urine

On-On!