Page 36 - IB January 2022

Sport and Fitness
HASHING FOR FUN, WELL-BEING
AND HARMONY
Scenes from a December (Nadi) hash
36 Islands Business, January 2022
Sport and Fitness
By Jason Jett
“…You don’t know where you’re going, and where this ad-
venture will lead you.”
“There is no racism in hash,” said David Jamieson, owner of
Yacht Help Fiji, while welcoming into the fold this new hasher
in Nadi, Fiji last March. “In hash, everyone is equal.”
An African-American writer stranded by the pandemic in
Fiji, I am very familiar with racism – a stain on the very fabric
of society in the United States.
Overhearing the conversation, an Aussie expat interjected,
“Australia is a pretty racist country, I admit.” He then asked a
nearby hasher, “Is there racism in Scotland?”
The conversation continued as we shared beer and pizza
after a rainy 10-kilometer run, jog and walk through cow
pastures and around sugarcane fields, on paths turned into
muddy rivulets after a day of rain.
No thought had been given to postponing the hash because
of dire weather. In fact, the rain, the muck and the wind were
reason for even more revelry among this hearty bunch of two
dozen Fijians and expats.
Hashing on Mondays began in 1938 as British officers sta-
tioned in colonial Malaysia sought a way to relieve boredom
and their weekend hangovers by running in the manner of the
English paper chase or “Hare & Hounds.” At the end of each
run, participants partook of beer, ginger beer and cigarettes,
along with hash — slang for basic food.
In 1950 in Kuala Lumpur the objectives of “Hash House
Harriers” were recorded as: “To promote fitness, get rid of
hangovers, acquire thirst and satisfy it with beer, and per-
suade older members they are not as old as they feel.”
More than 70 years later there are hash chapters, or “ken-
nels,” far beyond where the Union Jack flew. Hash organisa-
tions count 2030 chapters on seven continents in 185 coun-
tries and 1330 cities. Some are male-only clubs, but most are
open.
Non-competitive, a hash typically is run over a course
marked-off with chalk, flour, shredded paper or sawdust
shortly beforehand by one or two specified members, the
designated “hare(s).” The remaining members form the pack
of “hounds” whose task it is to follow the hares’ directional
markings, which include faux trails and dead ends.
There is no running clock, and while some members run
ahead of others the misdirection causes leaders to often
double-back. Combined with rest breaks, this keeps the pack
rather uniform even amid steep climbs, tumbling descents
and river crossings.
In addition to Fijian, Aussie, New Zealander, British, Chi-
nese, Japanese and Venezuelan members, last year Nadi Hash
House Harriers events – interrupted for seven months by a
Photo: Nadi Hash Harriers pandemic lockdown, saw participants from Germany, Reunion