The history of hashing and the red dress run

HASH FATHER: Albert
Stephen Ignatius
"G" Gispert.

Hashing originated in December 1938 in Kuala Lumpur, then in the Federated Malay States (now Malaysia), when a group of British colonial officers and expatriates began meeting on Monday evenings to run, in a fashion patterned after the traditional British Paper Chase or "Hare and Hounds", to rid themselves of the excesses of the previous weekend. The original members included, Albert Stephen (A.S.) Ignatius "G" Gispert (widely acknowledged to be the founder and father of the Hash House Harriers), Cecil Lee, Frederick "Horse" Thomson, Ronald "Torch" Bennett and John Woodrow. After meeting for some months, they were informed by the Registrar of Societies that as a "group," they would require a constitution and an official name. A.S. Gispert suggested the name "Hash House Harriers" after the Selangor Club Annex, where the men were billeted, known as the "Hash House" for its notoriously monotonous food. Apart from the excitement of chasing the hare and finding the trail, harriers reaching the end of the trail would be rewarded with beer, ginger beer and cigarettes.

The Constitution of the Hash House Harriers is recorded on a club registration card dated 1950:

· To promote physical fitness among our members

· To get rid of weekend hangovers

· To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer

· To persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel

Hashing died out during World War II after the invasion of Malaya, but was re-started after the war by most of the original group, minus A. S. Gispert, who was killed on 11 February 1942 in the Japanese invasion of Singapore, an event which we commemorate the 70th anniversary of today.

After the war, growth of Hashing remained small until 1962, when Ian Cumming founded a chapter in Singapore. The idea then spread through the Far East, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and North America, booming in popularity during the mid-1970s. At present, there are almost two thousand chapters in all continents of the world including two in Antarctica.

The Kuala Lumpur Hash House Harriers - more technically known as The Hash House Harriers (affectionately known to hashers around the world as “Mother Hash) have to date clocked up over 3,555 runs.

Lusaka Hash was founded in 1981 by Jeremy “Granny” Tunnacliffe from Bujumbura H3 and has been running continuously since this time with today being run number. The Hasher with the most runs is Gordon “Boy Blue” Murray with more than 789 runs to his credit while the longest serving hasher still running is Tony “Mansell” Harrison who has been hashing with LH3 since 1982.

The Red Dress Run may be the only completely original idea the Hash House Harriers have ever had. And it happened nearly by accident.

In 1987, a young lady wearing a red dress emerged from an airplane that had landed in southern California to visit a friend from her high school years. Shortly thereafter, she found herself transported to Long Beach, where her friend intended to introduce her to a zany running group called the Hash House Harriers. One member, noting her gender and attire, urged that she “just wait in the truck” until her host returned. With that goading, she ran into history sporting her red dress and heels and the legend was further spiced up by the fact that the pack ended up in the hot tub along with the lady in red still wearing her, by now, infamous red dress.

A year later [1988], to commemorate the event, the San Diego Hash House Harriers sent “The Lady In Red” an airline ticket to attend the first annual Red Dress Run. Hundreds of male and female hashers adorned themselves in red dresses for a spectacle widely covered by California newspapers and TV news. In addressing the crowd, The Lady In Red suggested that Hash House Harriers hold the Red Dress Run annually as an occasion to be used to raise funds for local charities

The tradition of the Hash House Harriers Red Dress Run quickly spread to every corner of the globe, including Beijing, Montreal, Ho Chi Minh City, Helsinki, Moscow, Tokyo, Washington, DC, Hobart (Australia) and countless other locations. Over the years, the Red Dress Run has been very successful in raising millions of dollars for a wide variety of local charities. The New Orleans Hash House Harriers attracted 7,000 participants to their Red Dress Run in 2011, raising more than $200,000 for 50 local charities.

Today the Red Dress Run is an integral part of the Hash House Harriers’ heritage and is as iconic as the Royal Selangor Club where the Hash House Harriers was born and as sacred to them as founder A.S. Gispert’s drinking vessel. It’s a tradition born before few organisations turned to running events as a way to raise money for charity and long before anyone ran in a dress of any colour. The Lady in Red (her actual hash name) continues to hash and attends Red Dress Run events that include a charity component, honouring the original Red Dress Run tradition.

Lusaka Hash Red Dress Run, was founded by Jackie “Itchy Bum” Johnston on 11th February 2006. Now preceded the night before by the equally popular Valentine’s Ball it has rapidly become one of LH3’s annual highlights. 

Thanks to Condom Man for putting together this article.