Hash House Harriers' History

The 'Hash House' was the mildly derogatory nickname given (for its unimaginative food) to the Selangor Club Chambers, by the British civil servants and businessmen who lived and dine there. Originally, the ground floor housed the main Selangor Club dining room and between the two World Wars, it became the social centre of the times, used regularly for midday and evening meals by the members who lived and worked in the vicinity. Situated close to and behind the present Selangor Club, it functions changed after independence in 1965, and it became an office for the local Water Board. Sadly, it gave way to the relentless march of time around 1974, being bulldozed to the ground floor under the northbound lanes of Jalan Kuching. The buildings housing the original stables and servant's quarters are still in existence.

The idea of Harriers chasing paper was not new to Malaya in 1938. The roots of the cross country running sport known as the 'Hare and Hounds' go back in Britain for about 150 years, and the sport was probably known elsewhere. 'Horse' Thomson (one of the KLH3 Founding Fathers) recalled being invited on a Hare and Hounds run shortly after his arrival in Johore Bahru in 1932, which chased a paper trail and followed basic hash rules, but the club was so loosely organised that it had no name and is believed to have died around 1935. More firmly organised Hare and Hounds lubs existed in Kuala Lumpur (the Kuala Lumpur Harriers which ran in the early 30's), in Ipoh (The Kinta Harriers), and in Malacca (The Springgit Harriers, formed in 1935), which A.S. 'G' Gispert, an accountant joined when posted there in 1937 and which ran weekly under what we now know as Hash rules. Some months later, 'Torch' Bennet (another accountant) visited Gispert in Malacca and ran as a guest on a few runs.

By 1938, Gispert, Thomson, Bennet and Lee had all moved to K.L. where, according to Cecil Lee, 'G' Gispert was the rotund, jolly, moving spirit behind the formation of a regular group of hares and hounds who ran each Monday, to work off the excesses of the weekend. It was also 'G' Gispert who apparently gave the new club the name 'The Hash House Harriers', with Run No.1 being from the Selangor Club Chambers in December 1938. In those days, the RSC and central K.L. area was so small, and surrounded by rubber plantations, so the trails were easy to lay. Little did Gispert know that he was founding an international organisation? There were probably only about a dozen or so members of the original HHH, including A.S. 'G' Gispert and 'Torch' Bennet, both accountants with Evatt & Co; 'Horse' Thomson of Malayan Posts & Telegraphs; Eric Galvin of the Malay Mail; Cecil Lee and H.M.Doig of Harrisons & Crossfield; Morris Edgar, a solicitor, and John Barret, an accountant. They were soon joined by a few others, including Frank Woodward; Philip Wickens; Lew Davidson and E.A.Ross. The war and the Japanese invasion took its inevitable toll and Gispert, the cheerful inspiration and founder of the HHH, who was volunteer in the Reserves, was killed in action in Singapore on 11th February 1942, at the tender age of 38.

According to Cecil Lee, when the surviving members returned to K.L. After the war, it was primarily a tribute to the memory of Gispert that the re-creation of the HHH came about, ably assisted by 'Torch' Bennett who discovered an outstanding bank balance and put in a claim for War Damage on one tin bath and two dozen mugs. Their first post war run was a trot around the racecourse in August 1946, strangely, none of the other Hare and Hounds clubs in Malaya seem to have re-formed after the war, and the HHH itself was never large in numbers, the roll call in 1957 being only 19 hardy members, who kept running right through the Emergency years.

Meanwhile, unknown to the HHH in Kuala Lumpur, another Hash club had been formed on the Italian Riviera, at Bordighera in April 1947, by Captain 'Gus' Mackey who had run as a guest of his brother, Rupert Mackey, with the KLH3 before the war, and had been captured and imprisoned in Italy. He settled down in Italy after the war and formed the Bordighera HHH who ran on Hash rules and which flourished among British ex-servicemen until 1961. The Milan HHH which was formed in 1990 discovered the history of the BH3 by accident and, at the suggestion of Tim 'Magic' Hughes, subsumed their title in forming the Royal Milan & Bordighera HHH, which runs once a year in Bordighera, with a guest appearance by the ghost of Gus Mackey.

The second continuously running Hash Chapter was founded in Singapore in February 1962 by Ian Cumming of KLH3 and then (Following the movement of troops during the Konfrontasi period) chapters were founded in Brunei and Kuching and Sandakan in 1963, Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu), Sibu and Miri in 1964, Ipoh and Penang in 1965. Thus a total of ten chapters from Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, celebrated the 1,000 post-war Hash run of KLH3, in K.L. On 12 March 1966 and promptly added 117 pre-war runs to their run numb rs (to bring the next celebration run forward more quickly!).

Dhekelia (an army base) in Cyprus was the first Hash Chapter created outside South East Asia in January 1967, followed by Hobart and Sydney in October 1967 and Episkopi (Cyprus) in November 1967. By the time of the Hash Bash to celebrate KLH3s 1,500 Run in 1973, there were still only 35 Hash Chapters in existence, of which 11 were in Malaysia.

The subsequent (and continuing) explosion of the number of Hash Chapters worldwide is a source of quiet amazement to many hashers, most of whom know only their own Hash chapters and their weekly runs. Numbers are not too exact among typical Hash MisManagement, but the latest Harrier International Directory lists over 1,600 active Hash Chapters in 181 countries or territories, which would mean that, with an average Hash Chapter membership of between 50 to 80 (?), there could be a worldwide total of 80,000 to 100,000 hashers, running in every possible type of terrain and climate.

The 1st run was held on 3 September 1991 with about 30 members gathering outside the Hash Bar, led by Grandmaster 'No Manners' Phuah Boon Lay.

Although the H3 was formed by several RSC members in 1938, they were never a part of the RSC. To celebrate the official inclusion of H3 as one of the RSC sections, 113 members had a gala RSC Hash Launching Run at Bukit Kiara in Kuala Lumpur on 8 November 1991.

The weekly RSC Hash runs are held every Friday and starts off at 6.OOpm. The cross country trails are marked by flour, chalk or paper, usually having 4 to 6 checks to keep the front runners in check. From an initial 30 members in 1991, the RSC Hash Section has now 453 members, the largest hash group in Malaysia and probably one of the largest in the world. On 5 September 2008, RSC Hash celebrated its 17th Anniversary with Run No.888, helmed by the present Grandmaster (convener), Rajinder 'Speedy Gonzales' Agnihotri.

Rehash Run No.1 - 3 September 1991

The rsc hash run#1 was held on 3rd September 1991. The hare and co-hare were Tango and Stewart 'Celup' Rowe.

This run became known as the tango & cash run.

15th Anniversary Run - 9 September 2006

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