A run club that chugs
By Yang Lan Source:Global Times Published: 2014-7-29 18:43:01
Group mixes jogging with beer stops along the way
If you happen to see a mob of expats running through your neighborhood, making a ruckus and stopping to drink beer, don’t be alarmed.
A similar scene started Sunday outside a restaurant on Wuning Road in Putuo district. Lightning slashed the sky, followed by rolling thunder. A group of expats in yellow T-shirts stood in a circle, singing, cracking jokes and drinking beer mixed with rainwater. None of them had umbrellas, and none of them cared. Chinese residents and security guards gathered around, staring curiously.
Meet the Shanghai Hash House Harriers, a social club that organizes a run every Sunday morning through different parts of the city. They run - and walk - every week, "without fail, come rainstorm, snowstorm, beer storm, sun storm, sandstorm, etc," according to the group's website.
The term Hash House Harriers refers to groups that hold regular, non-competitive runs in the cities where they reside. There are Hash House Harriers all over the world.
The activity is called hashing, which refers to the chalk marks that the run's planner, called a "hare," leaves for the rest of the group to follow. Every week, the hare chooses a new place for the club to run. He or she marks the route in chalk. Arrows indicate turns. The letter "h" tells the runners to continue on in the same direction. And "BS" means it's time to stop and have a beer.
For the Shanghai Hash House Harriers, two hares plan two different routes together - one for walking, one for running. Each route shares a meeting point for everyone to gather and leave their belongings.
The routes take them through parks, markets, and sometimes even shopping malls. The route changes every week.
"Sometimes we have lazy hares, who only mark 4 kilometers, and sometimes we have crazy hares, who mark a route of 15 kilometers," said Jerry Yao, an American who helps manage the Shanghai Hash House Harriers. "Long routes or short, everybody finishes."
As if the beer stops didn't give it away, Yao emphasized that the runs are casual affairs. "We have a lot of professional runners in our club, but it is very casual," he told the Global Times. "We like exercise, so we run. We eat dinner together, and we drink beer."
Members like to joke that the group is "a drinking club with a running problem." After every run, they gather in a circle and drink beer, and then go have dinner together.
As Grand Master of the Shanghai Hash House Harriers, Greta Tasedan, from the US, manages the club. "I find the hares who design the route every week. Sometimes people back out, and I need to find the replacement," she told the Global Times. "I update the website, and answer people's questions on the website and the Facebook page. I do not mind doing it, since I like organizing things. People find us through friends, our website, or our page on Facebook, and then join us. There are always new people, even though many people come and go. Once we had only four people came, but it was a lot of fun. Once we had almost 50 people, and we finished 10 cases of beer."
The Shanghai Hash House Harriers was founded in 1986, said Yao, who joined the club in June 2013. "The oldest member that I have met was a woman. She was the daughter of the original hasher from Malaysia. She was already more than 70 years old. That was the oldest member of the Hash House Harriers," he said.
Tasedan said there are five other hashing clubs in Shanghai. "The Drunken Dragon Hash House Harriers run two Saturdays a month outside of Shanghai," she said. "The Taiping Hash House Harriers meet once per month on Saturdays for an out of town run in beautiful mountains. The DOGS Hash House Harriers run every Thursday in-town and only men are allowed to join. The Pudong Full Moon Hash House Harriers run once per month on or around the full moon on Wednesdays in-town. The Posh Hash House Harriers run every month on Friday in town, and it is a women-only group. And, all six hash chapters join the Shanghai Santa Hash, which is a charity event held once a year before Christmas."
For those who want to join the Shanghai Hash House Harriers, it costs 50 yuan ($8.09) for the run only; 100 yuan for the run and the dinner and 100 yuan for just the dinner.
A similar scene started Sunday outside a restaurant on Wuning Road in Putuo district. Lightning slashed the sky, followed by rolling thunder. A group of expats in yellow T-shirts stood in a circle, singing, cracking jokes and drinking beer mixed with rainwater. None of them had umbrellas, and none of them cared. Chinese residents and security guards gathered around, staring curiously.
Meet the Shanghai Hash House Harriers, a social club that organizes a run every Sunday morning through different parts of the city. They run - and walk - every week, "without fail, come rainstorm, snowstorm, beer storm, sun storm, sandstorm, etc," according to the group's website.
The term Hash House Harriers refers to groups that hold regular, non-competitive runs in the cities where they reside. There are Hash House Harriers all over the world.
The activity is called hashing, which refers to the chalk marks that the run's planner, called a "hare," leaves for the rest of the group to follow. Every week, the hare chooses a new place for the club to run. He or she marks the route in chalk. Arrows indicate turns. The letter "h" tells the runners to continue on in the same direction. And "BS" means it's time to stop and have a beer.
For the Shanghai Hash House Harriers, two hares plan two different routes together - one for walking, one for running. Each route shares a meeting point for everyone to gather and leave their belongings.
The routes take them through parks, markets, and sometimes even shopping malls. The route changes every week.
"Sometimes we have lazy hares, who only mark 4 kilometers, and sometimes we have crazy hares, who mark a route of 15 kilometers," said Jerry Yao, an American who helps manage the Shanghai Hash House Harriers. "Long routes or short, everybody finishes."
As if the beer stops didn't give it away, Yao emphasized that the runs are casual affairs. "We have a lot of professional runners in our club, but it is very casual," he told the Global Times. "We like exercise, so we run. We eat dinner together, and we drink beer."
Members like to joke that the group is "a drinking club with a running problem." After every run, they gather in a circle and drink beer, and then go have dinner together.
As Grand Master of the Shanghai Hash House Harriers, Greta Tasedan, from the US, manages the club. "I find the hares who design the route every week. Sometimes people back out, and I need to find the replacement," she told the Global Times. "I update the website, and answer people's questions on the website and the Facebook page. I do not mind doing it, since I like organizing things. People find us through friends, our website, or our page on Facebook, and then join us. There are always new people, even though many people come and go. Once we had only four people came, but it was a lot of fun. Once we had almost 50 people, and we finished 10 cases of beer."
The Shanghai Hash House Harriers was founded in 1986, said Yao, who joined the club in June 2013. "The oldest member that I have met was a woman. She was the daughter of the original hasher from Malaysia. She was already more than 70 years old. That was the oldest member of the Hash House Harriers," he said.
Tasedan said there are five other hashing clubs in Shanghai. "The Drunken Dragon Hash House Harriers run two Saturdays a month outside of Shanghai," she said. "The Taiping Hash House Harriers meet once per month on Saturdays for an out of town run in beautiful mountains. The DOGS Hash House Harriers run every Thursday in-town and only men are allowed to join. The Pudong Full Moon Hash House Harriers run once per month on or around the full moon on Wednesdays in-town. The Posh Hash House Harriers run every month on Friday in town, and it is a women-only group. And, all six hash chapters join the Shanghai Santa Hash, which is a charity event held once a year before Christmas."
For those who want to join the Shanghai Hash House Harriers, it costs 50 yuan ($8.09) for the run only; 100 yuan for the run and the dinner and 100 yuan for just the dinner.
Social club Shanghai Hash House Harriers drink, run and have fun.
Photos: Courtesy of Shanghai Hash House Harriers