The Hash House Harriers have a colourful history. The original idea was to mimic the Hare and Hounds or Fox and Hounds style chases that have been around for centuries in one form or another. Some "gentle-men" substituted men for the game in an effort to add something different to the sport. There is evidence of this in colonial America as well as in England. It seemed a logical development then, to substitute the hounds with runners as well. Men, not as well endowed as dogs with a sense of smell, required a trail of some sort to track their quarry. Paper seemed the ideal solution. This sport was well entrenched long before these sportsmen became known as "hashers" and the sport was referred to as Hounds and Hares or the Paper Chase.

The Hash House Harriers had its humble beginnings in 1938 with an Englishman named Albert Stephen Ignatius Gispert, in Malaya what is now Malaysia. Having a fondness for the "paper chase," he gathered together a group of expatriates - including Cecil Lee, "Horse" Thomson and "Torch" Bennett - to form a group in Kuala Lumpur that would later become a worldwide legacy. The name Hash House comes from the fact that almost all of the original hashers back in 1938-40 lived at the Selangor Club, and thus "G" called it the "Hash House

Almost a dozen runs took place, although attendance could sometimes be counted on one hand. The sport was cut short during World War II, but then re-established when peace returned. The first rebirth run was held in Aug 1946. It was some time before the international phenomena we are familiar with today began spreading around the world. A hash was formed in 1947 in Bordighera, Italy (near Milan) by some former members of the original Hash House Harriers. It ceased operations until the early 1960s, but was reborn in 1984. The Bordighera HHH merged with the Milan HHH (founded 1990) in Nov 1991 and is now quite alive and well as the Royal Milan and Bordighera HHH.

It wasn't until 1962 that the next official group was formed in Singapore. The Singapore HHH was slowly followed by others until by the 1,500th postwar run in 1973, there were 35 known hashes around the world. This figure climbed into the hundreds by the 1980's and there are now well over 1,300 active hashes.

The main difference between hash groups is their emphasis on the sporting versus social aspects of hashing. Some choose to maintain the tradition of a live hare hash chasing runners while they lay a trail after being given a few minutes head start. They thrill in the hunt the occasional catch and the notion that there is a real pursuit in progress during the event.

Other hashes have shunned the competitive nature of the live hare hashes, pre-laying the trail with a number of marks designed to keep the pack together. These gathering checks and other delaying marks allow the hashers of the dead hare hashes to sing and make merry from point to point, emphasizing the social aspects of the sport.

Regardless the event, hashing knows no age boundaries, with family hashes and children's hashes, as well as members from all ages, with hashers in their 70's or even older. So there's no reason to not join. As one popular Hash House Harriers' motto goes: "If you've half a mind to join the hash, that's all you need!"

Source: Malaysian Airlines Magazine, 1998 with some updates from Hazukashii