Hashing in Rochester

Date published: August 26, 2005

Way back while living in Hawaii in the Summer of 2000, I did a lot of interesting things, most of them things I had never done before.

I took my first and only 8 hour or longer non-stop flight (excluding the flight back).
I created what eventually became the blue oval design of my site, including the JL symbol that appears on both that and the artsy designs on my site.
I started working out for the first time outside of something required for school.
I drank my first cup of the absolutely amazing and delicious Jamba Juice.
I went to my first nude beach.

Anyway, now that we're treading the line of too much information, I'll get to my point of this post. While also in Hawaii, I went on my first hash. What is a hash, you say? Basically it's a 3-5 mile trek wherein one runner (the hare) lays a trail of flour and other people follow that trail. The trail can go through woods, malls, parks, suburbs, you name it. There are beer and water stops along the way, and even more beer at the end of the trail. The Hawaiian hash was through woods, fields, along a highway, and even along the boarder of a military base where we saw people in their fatigues holding guns. It was quite a surreal, first hash. There were actually two hashing groups on the island of Oahu, the Aloha Hash House Harriers (who I ran with) and the Honolulu Hash House Harriers. To have two group on one small island, you can see that it was quite popular. Most of the people involved were in or use to be in the military.

So how does this relate to the here and now? I'm getting to that point. When I got back from Hawaii I had looked up the local hashing group but I never went on a hash with them. I was always a bit hesitant because I'm not a very good runner and I didn't want to go and be blown out of the water. That's one of the reasons why I took up Geocaching. It's fun, you get to walk around and see new places just like hashing, but it's not running...it's more like a treasure hunt sort of. Anyway, Last year my coworker Brenda mentioned that she was part of the local hashing group, the Flour City Hash House Harriers. After I expressed my interest she got me on their email list, but I never went on a hash. Thursday, Brenda came into my cubicle and said "Hey, tonight would be a great time for you to go hashing, there's a lot of walkers tonight."

So there it was, my chance to go again. I'd also recently been wanting to get some more exercise because I've been gaining some weight, however slight. So after a 5-year hiatus, I finally went hashing again.

I had a blast and plan on going again. The people were really nice, and I even met a guy who I have friends in common with. We started and ended at the MacGregor's Bar and Grill in Gates. Along the trail there was a lot of little streams to cross, most people just trudged through them, but I didn't want to get wet, and it was more of a challenge to try to remain dry. I did quite well, but did get my shoes wet by the end of the night. Brenda and I both ran on hare, meaning we ran with the guy who laid the trail the night before. Basically he brings up the rear of the pack. There was one other guy who was on hare, but he ended up getting lost (we called for him, but apparently he didn't' hear us) and he just returned to the start point because he knew that's where we were going to end up. That's called an A-to-A hash. An A-to-B hash is where you end at a different location and people have to drive you back to the start point to get your car. The hash in Hawaii was an A-to-B. Also, unlike the Rochester hash, the Hawaiian hash was a live trail, meaning that the hare laid the trail real time. The hare is given a 15 minute head start.

Ok, I've written enough, I'm done talking about hashing now. I'll be sure to post if I go again. For now, if you want to read more about it, check out the Harrier.Net and Half-Minds on Hashing sites.