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In-depth InterHash

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InterHash...

...a biannual gathering of the world’s Hashers, first held in Hong Kong in 1978. While the name was not formally adopted until InterHash Kuala Lumpur in 1980, the term was certainly in use in 1978 at Hong Kong and was displayed on welcoming banners at Kai Tak airport by Committee Members of the InterHash Unconvention.

Pre 1978 InterHash events

In 1966 Mother Hash, now emerging from several years of declining numbers, invited runners from Ipoh and Singapore to join them for their 1,000^th run.  There were 24 visitors, all hosted by Mother Hash.

     In 1973 Mother celebrated its 1,500^th run and numbers rose to 300 plus, with guests outnumbering locals 3-1. In addition to the various Malaysian Hashes, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Perth, Washington, Brunei and Singapore were represented and there were apologies from half a dozen other kennels. Hares on the main run were Peter Bromley (Joint Master) Geoff Edwards and Andrew Tarres and the evening involved boat races and choirs.   

The Hashers gathered the next day at ‘The Dog’ and the party continued at the same pace. The event saw the world’s first Hash banner and the first Hash T-shirt.

     There was already talk of staging regular gatherings but the idea of meeting in Bali never got off the ground. Indeed, Mother Hash probably visualised themselves as the only appropriate hosts for staging such events and had pencilled in their 40^th anniversary and their 2000^th run for the next big gatherings.

However Hashing was becoming more international and events such as the New Zealand Nash Hash and the Singapore 1000^th run reopened the idea of a bringing the world’s Hashers together. It was Hong Kong who took up the challenge.

Hong Kong, 1978

The idea that grew into InterHash came from Barrie Griffith, but in the end it was Wes ‘Festering Pastit’ Parfitt, who organised a gathering of world Hashers during the four days of the 1978 Easter holiday.

     For the first time a fee - HK$50, or about US$10- was charged, which brought complaints from KL, as they had hosted previous events free. It didn’t put anybody off however, and eventually 988 Hashers turned up.

    Friday’s run was on The Peak, with the reception at the China Fleet Club being noted for singing, food fights and striptease. Later many of the boys were off to the Wanchai nightclubs. 

    Saturday’s run was on Prison Island, and Tehran gave a legendary singing performance on the ferry crossing.

    Sunday saw the pack in the New Territories, where a giant (and excellent) curry was served from the back of an Army truck by Ghurkhas. A core of senior Hash men gathered on Sunday and decided to make this a biannual event, with John Duncan provisionally accepting the honour on behalf of KL.

Kuala Lumpur 1980

Numbers rose to 1,242 and despite their protest in 1978, KL now charged US$50 a head. There were some problems, including pre-issuing of tickets, registering with the Malaysian authorities and currency conversions, but everything eventually fell into place. 

     On Friday InterHashers gathered at the Selangor Club, at the very roots of Hashing, for a night of brilliant atmosphere, ice-cold beer and monsoon rain, which enabled Victor Mason to exercise his body sliding techniques on the muddy padang. This added to the dismay of the snobbish Club management, who were already struggling to deal with the presence of the Harriets in this usually all-male domain.

     There were transport problems in the shape of bus shortages and on Saturday night the heavy rain flooded the rubber drying shed that was the main venue. Despite this the show went on, on and introduced many visitors the true nature of Asian ‘shiggy’. 

     What a blast!

Jakarta 1982

In 1982 Jakarta was still considered a hardship posting, a place of power cuts and (non-Hash related) crime. Indeed the original Easter date had to be switched to October because of elections.

On the other hand the booming, oil-driven economy resulted in InterHash acquiring a healthy US$50,000 in sponsorship. 41% of the 1190 participants came from Indonesia and 28% from Jakarta, so there was no lack of guides for those who wanted to head into the restaurant/night club zone known as Blok M.

     The main venue for the runs was the Cibubur Boy Scout Camp, which is set in beautiful countryside and is still a favourite venue with local kennels, particularly the Harriettes. Unfortunately a problem with the permit (Tidak ada permissi) caused the ‘Blue Run’ to be abandoned.

    The cabaret was memorable for the performance of ‘Miss Semarang’ and there were impressive displays by Captain Knockers, and the Jakarta Pussy Hash.

    On Sunday, InterHashers gathered in the downtown square surrounding Monas, (this being the rather phallic National Monument symbolising Indonesian independence or Merdeka.) and from there boarded buses for the trip up into the hills of the Puncak tea plantation. The Puncak offered great running territory, with the deep ravines making life difficult for the short cutters, but there was a long (more than 1 hour) bus trip back to Cibubur.

    On Monday about 500 turned up at the ISCI Sports Club for the usual Monday night run and many went ‘on on‘ to Singapore and then Mother H3’s 2000^th run.

Sydney 1984

Ole ‘Sparks’ Vigersol (ex-Jakarta H3) was chairman in Sydney 1984, while Noelene ‘Captain Knockers’ Shepherd was InterHash Secretary.

     It was a big decision to go out of Asia, especially when considering the difficulties of travelling in 1984. This reflected in the 1562 registrations. There were, for example, only 30 Hashers from UK and half of these were from Cambridge. It has been suggested that with a 2-1 ratio it all felt a bit like a giant Aussie Nash Hash.

     The New Crest Hotel in the bawdy red-light district of Kings Cross became an unofficial gathering place and the Hasher’s good behaviour surprised the Sydney police, who had turned out in force, expecting riots from ‘the wild drinking club’. 

     Saturday offered 12 runs, most heading north and out of town. In the evenings, InterHashers gathered at the main venue, the Wentworth Greyhound Racing Track, where Horse Thompson (by then 78 years of age) was guest of honour. Some Queensland Hashers wore XXX beer T-shirt to piss off the official sponsors, Foster’s Brewery.

     On Sunday, the runs began from the Opera House steps by the fabulous harbour.  The runs seemed to head in every direction, many departing by ferry and one passing through the Lady Jane nudist beach.  Lunch was at HMAS Penguin, where the ironmen and women competitions took place.

     With InterHash officially over, the partying continued at the Battery Hotel. Monday was a day off in Sydney and train trips up the Central Coast and Newcastle for post-InterHash runs were available for interested InterHashers. Regular Sydney Hash runs resumed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Pattaya 1986

InterHash 1986 was staged by Bangkok and Pattaya Hashes, with Tim ‘Magic’ Hughes of Bangkok, who had only been Hashing since 1979, serving as chairman. Frank ‘Whorator ‘Benfield, the Pattaya H3 GM, was Magic’s deputy and Stage Master. 

     This was the most international gathering so far and broke the 2000 (2143 attended) barrier for the first time.

Thailand was still an emerging economy and there was little hope of sponsorship, meaning an initial fee of US$ 80 and rising. There were only limited computer facilities available and communication was still by mail or unreliable telex in an emergency. Local hashers remember Tim driving to the P.O. Box and struggling to fit all the mail into his small Ford Laser.

     Registration and the official opening were at the Grand Palace Hotel by the beach. Many Malaysian Hashers missed the pomp and circumstance of opening night, having been delayed by a bomb scare on their aircraft.

Thai food was laid out around the function room reflecting a rural Thai village them. It was arranged by Whorator that Magic would be delivered to the stage by a large elephant, and he would then officially open InterHash 1986.  What was not arranged was that the (non-toilet trained) elephant would vacate its bladder and bowels as it was kneeling to allow Magic to dismount!

Kick boxing and Lam Morrison’s (no relation to Van Morrison) Deep Purple renditions entertained the flock, along with a transvestite dancing troupe whose presence awed many a Hasher who knew not what he watched. 

    There were protests when the Singha Gold beer supply was turned off at 11.00 pm.  However, this decision was taken when it became apparent that cartons of beer were being removed to Hashers’ hotel rooms.

      Hares from Bangkok and Pattaya set 22 runs taking Hashers to the north and south of Pattaya and all finishing at the Ocean Marina beach. Some of the runs were a disappointment as by the time InterHash came around, Pattaya was in the middle of a drought and the countryside was not at its best. It didn’t help that that the water which had been ordered arrived in giant tankers, not little plastic bottles!

At the run site circles Jakarta H3 demonstrated their singing circle, a concept enthusiastically adopted by the Pattaya Hash and others.

     On stage, Whorator was deluged with Hash acts and there were only limited opportunities for non-Hash music on both Saturday and Sunday evenings. Horse Thompson made a second appearance as guest of honour.

     On Monday morning a fleet of buses returned the InterHash pack to Bangkok, although some 600 Hashers stayed on for Pattaya's Monday run.

     The charity to benefit from 1986 InterHash was the Pattaya Redemptorist Orphanage whose children, under the leadership of Father Ray Brennan, had maintained the Marina site’s cleanliness.  In return, the orphanage cashed in the thousands of empty beer bottles, received a modest cash donation from the InterHash kitty and also the Pattaya Hash and also inherited the donkey cart that The Wolf of Karachi H3 had shipped in for the event and was unable to ship out!

   The many girls and bars of Pattaya were left to count the takings for days afterwards. Holiday resorts like Pattaya fit InterHash as well as InterHash fits Pattaya.

Bali 1988

It was Victor “Nightjar’ Mason and Bali H3’s turn to stage InterHash in 1988. The event was timed to get the best of weather and staged on the Nusa Dua Peninsula. Registrants numbered 2247 and included many Indonesians who, for once, did not have to pay their government’s US$150 exit tax. Bali was already familiar ground for many hashers, not least the large Australian contingent.

     There was a great opening show, with a 60-foot paper and cane Ogoh-Ogoh monster burnt to appease the Spirits and encourage the harmony so important to the Balinese.  This was followed by a spectacular fireworks show.

    On Saturday 20 runs covered ‘the best of Bali’, the police escorting convoys of ‘bemos’ to the various starting points.

     The food that evening was magnificent, and Whorator, serving as MC for a second time, was again impressed with the number of and quality of the Hash acts. ‘Fartin’ Martin and Booze Brothers’ were the undisputed stars but Singapore’s 'Syph and the Sores' provided additional musical support. Jakarta’s non-exploding Penguin was a source of bemusement while Hamersley, the Hague and some of Gulf Hashes provided high-quality Hash entertainment.  The Copenhagen Harriets were “special”.

     The 8.30 Sunday start was too early for many, especially for those still coming home. Nightjar’s Sunday Hash cricket game at the Sidhakarya Cricket Ground was well-attended and had the Americans 'both intrigued and non-plussed'. Some wondered aloud what cricket had to do with Hashing but they apparently knew as little of Nightjar as they knew of cricket! 

    It was a great InterHash with great Bintang beer and tough runs in Bali’s charming countryside.  In all, an excellent job by Nightjar and his team.

Manila 1990

When Mark ‘Black Marker’ Blacker was forced to stand aside as Chairman due to work commitments, Ken ‘Grumbles’ Grumley and Rob ‘Malibog’ Denny assumed InterHash responsibility as Joint Grand Masters for the 1990 ‘The Thriller in Manila’. 

    Political uncertainties, which led to the US government forbidding its employees from entering the Philippines, kept numbers down to 1610. However generous sponsorship from San Miguel and Coca Cola meant there was still plenty of beer available to re-hydrating thirsty hashers.

    Registration began at the airport and there were pre-InterHash events in Manila and Angeles City. The Friday function was at the Coconut Palace on Roxas Boulevarde, while the main venue was the Coca Cola bottling plant. Bulk beer was stored in a 40’ reefer container, ala Pattaya, and again this was sponsored by Maersk.

    40 odd runs were offered over the weekend and these were blessed with good weather.

    Whorator, was MC once again and there were notable contributions from Batavia H4, Auckland H3, Sydney H3, Hamersley H3, Mother Hash with John Duncan, Edinburgh H3 and a repeat performance from Syph & the Sores from Lion City H3.

The InterHash entertainment was supplemented by some of the world’s best LBFMs wriggling and writhing on the giant stage at the Coke bottling factory. Those present might remember the single pipe, low-pressure shower on the right-hand side of the entrance gate! 

The following Monday the Manilla men’s kennel threw their doors open to everybody while those who were based in Angeles could do the Angeles 600th on Tuesday and the infamous A to Z Bar run on Wednesday. La Union and Baguio put on special events over the weekend.

     The InterHash committee selected several charities to benefit from the surplus Pesos as well as passing the regular US$15,000 onto Phuket.  An InterHash to remember, well done Grumbles, Malibog, et al.

Phuket 1992

Magic gave considerable encouragement to Phuket H3’s bid, even though they had only completed 200 or so runs at the time. His faith was rewarded when Paul ‘King Klong’ James and his Mismanagement team staged a highly successful InterHash to the benefit of the almost 2300 InterHashers.

    The Friday night registration was enlivened by some security hassles that were resolved by Dave ‘Sir Wanda’ Cooper, event security manager, throwing all of the offending InterHashers as well as the over-zealous security guards into the pool.

    Saturday’s bus boarding did not go smoothly but co-ordination by Flying DickHead resolved the issue in a true InterHash manner. The runs were generally well received, helped by the fact that Phuket had escaped the worse of the drought that had affected Pattaya four years before.

     The Saturday night function was at Surakul football stadium where the food was not only of excellent quality but also readily accessible as was the beer, which was cold and plentiful. 

    The on stage entertainment was hilarious and mismanaged by Bollox dressed in pink as a skirted clown.  So many InterHashers volunteered to perform that Bollox and crew employed a padded hook to clear the stage of acts that were deemed unsuitable. The cry would ring out from the assembled pack of InterHashers soon after it became apparent that an act was not accepted:  “Give ‘em the hook” and the long handled hook would snake its way onto the stage and drag the miscreant offstage!  It was a highlight. 

     Afterwards, and before bedtime, the InterHash pack went off to Patong Beach to sample the dangers/entertainment of the bars and klongs.  Reverse bungy jumping was a huge hit and in various stages of dress, undress and sobriety InterHashers were flung into the sky and the operator had to put on extra staff to count the profits.

    The traditional Down Down competition saw Hooray Henry move beer at his fastest and eventually into the overflowing vomitorium. While not having the benefit of any overtly generous sponsorship deal, Phuket was another outstanding InterHash and all gratitude is due to King Klong and his team.

Rotorua 1994

Interhash 1994 took place under direction of InterHash Chairman Ken ‘The Hound’ Pascoe and Rotorua GM Bruce ‘Father’ Eagar.

     Taking InterHash so far from the centre of Hashdom was a gamble but over 4100 InterHashers made their way to ‘The Thunder Down Under’.

Many came via a week of hashing in Auckland. So intense was this Hashing prelube that some felt they were lucky to survive the generous hospitality of the Aucklanders and looked on the forthcoming weekend in Rotorua a chance to dry out.  The Friday train ride from Auckland to Rotorua put an end to that “Train of thought”.

     Rotorua, with its hot springs and attendant sulphuric smells, is one of New Zealand’s top a tourist destinations and left a great impression, from the welcoming Haka through to stories of police giving drunken Hashers lifts home. The food was excellent, some of the best InterHash has ever provided, and the Sportsdome proved an ideal base, despite its poor acoustics. Tequila was provided by the bucketful, Steinlager by the tanker load served from an associated plumbing nightmare.

     The small touches were particularly good, vintage buses took Hashers out to a choice of 10 runs, all set in beautiful hilly temperate climate bush, and a helicopter dropped beer to one group of runners.

There was a notable increase in non-Hash entertainment, in particular the Oompah band and games such as sumo wrestling suits.

    All in all it was another outstanding InterHash that left many fond memories.

Cyprus 1996

A 333^rd anniversary practise run hadn’t gone too well, but the committee, under the guidance of John ‘Urine’ Jackson, learnt from that experience and Cyprus ‘96 was okay to good.

     If the island was too hot, then at least the Municipal Park was secure and shady. Accommodation was more of a problem, with the runners being scattered around the island and many were not too endeared to Cypriot taxi drivers.

    A European venue, plus the growth of UK Hashing, meant that of the 3261 registrants, 882 were Brits, more than the USA and Australia combined.  Those fortunate enough to be part of the GM’s run after the meeting on Sunday morning have fond, but limited, memories of that part of InterHash 1996 in Cyprus. 

     After the event Urine was able to pass US$20,000 to KL as start-up funding for IH 1998.

Kuala Lumpur 1998

It was back to KL in 1998 to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Hashing. 5580 attended what was, at the time, the largest ever gathering of InterHashers.

Nine local Hashes combined to organise the event and the Merdeka Stadium was a dramatic venue within walking distance of most hotels. There was a great emphasis on occasion, including a display on the history of Hashing.

On the negative side KL had grown since the last InterHash, the traffic was worse and there were long drives to the more distant run sites. The sheer number of Hashers created problems including long lines for food.

The behaviour of some Hashers was also more boisterous than Malaysia was used to, leaving some bad feeling in the community.

As in 1980, Harriets were allowed into the usually men-only preserve that is the Long Bar at the Selangor Club, demonstrating the awareness of the importance of the Hash to the Club.

The collapse of the Ringgit, the Malaysian currency, resulted in a profit of RM$450,000.00. (US$120, 000). Of this total, a huge amount, RM$200,000.00 was shared between 10 local charities. This ‘generosity’ with InterHash cash still rankles with many an InterHasher. However, KL 1998 also passed on the US$20,000.00 it had received from Cyprus on to the next committee.

Tasmania 2000 Updated

Hobart had unsuccessfully bid on several previous occasions, so when given the event Alan ‘Easy Rider’ Rider and Denis ‘Scrambles’ Ransley were determined to mismanage InterHash to a ruthlessly efficient business plan. Indeed some veterans joked that Hobart couldn’t be considered an InterHash at all, because there was no Blue Run, no warm beer and no food or transport stuff-ups!

     The worse moment by far occurred a just a few weeks before the event when several of the committee were hospitalised following a mini-bus accident. The show however went on.

     The good-natured welcome of the locals is fondly remembered and was in part due to city officials going on local TV and explaining what the event was all about. As a result all public transport was free, some bars and restaurants were offering discount to hashers and there are stories of the local police giving drunken hashers a lift back to their hotels!.

The Government also removed (or just ignored?) a 64-year-old law making it illegal for Tasmanian men to dress as women in public between sunset and sunrise. Enforcement of the law would of course have resulted in mass arrests during the Red Dress run!

One of the committee, Honkers, was still suffering from injuries sustained during the minibus crash but was able to make a brief appearance. One run also diverted past his house so the pack could give their respects.

Goa 2002 Updated

The idea of an Indian-based InterHash originated with Ian ‘Bullfighter’ Booth who visualised the event being staged in Madras. It was Digit who persuaded him that Goa was the natural venue.

Bullfighter was unable to make it to Cyprus, so it was Digit who lead the presentation and went on to became event chairman. InterHash Goa 2002 was mismanaged by one of the most international and experienced committees ever gathered and they worked under the motto ‘Hashing by Hashers for Hashers’.

    Despite this experience base there were internal rifts, which led to the resignation of ‘Whorator’. Additional problems arose out of the necessity to deal with the local state-based ‘Mafia’. For example at one point they threatened to block the road to hash buses to force hashers to use taxis to travel between venues! Here TNT’s local knowledge was a considerable help. Getting the beer out of customs warehouse also proved to be a nightmare only solved at the very last moment.

    Much of this escaped the notice of the 2,500 InterHashers who turned up. 3,587 hashers had in fact registered but there was a large drop out rate due to political tensions between India and Pakistan. The position of the committee was simply that this left more beer for the rest of us!

     The tiny village of Cavallossim was the venue and a giant inflatable tent was erected at the end of a strip of hotels and bars. It was a long bus ride to the ‘yellow dress run’ but the boat cruise made it worthwhile and everything was in full swing by the following afternoon. The Cardiff party became the place to be and there was a mass parade from the local bars down to the tented site for the official opening.

     The countryside around the venue provided great Hashing territory and at least one run started and finished with a river cruise. As expected the weather was slightly on the hot side and a few of the long runs were ‘ball breakers’ in all but name.

     The cabarets brought no single outstanding acts but an agreeable degree of nudity, which continued in one of the beer trunks after ‘Man in Black’ organised a spontaneous sauna party.

     Hashers got good reviews in the local press, their behaviour being compared favourably with the normal holiday visitors, and Goa certainly left a similar impression on the InterHashers. A special mention should be made of the hard work of Reggie ‘TNT’ Fredericks.

Cardiff 2004 Updated

The dream of bringing InterHash to the UK had been building up since Cyprus. Scarborough was one of the first venues discussed and it might well have turned into a Yorkshire bid. Plymouth was another possibility, but in the end it was Cardiff that was selected to host  and GBH the anointed Mismanager.

    There was some excitement over finding a venue. The Millennium Dome was the first choice but with Wembly closed they were charging too much, so the Rugby Stadium next door was booked. As numbers grew this venue started was too small and then Wembly reopened and InterHash coud switch back to the Millennium Dome that was suddenly offering more competitive rates.

Most accommodation was in walking distance of the venue and registration took place in the impressive Town Hall.

The Red Dress Run departed from the steps of the town hall on a cold and wet evening but by the following day the weather was perfect and the next two days provided some excellent runs through some of Britain’s best countryside. The stage was not ideal, and there were long food lines on the first night but these were minor points for what proved to be a very successful event.

Chiang Mai 2006 Updated

InterHash 2006 was the responsibility of the 6 countries, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos and Vietnam which, with pre and post rambles, was promoted as a ‘Mekong Region’ event.  For the first time the committee was chairman by a woman, Wichanee ‘Imelda’ Ratanaporn.

     A record 6,000 InterHashers registered, at which point numbers were capped, but it still left Imelda and her crew the challenge of organising the biggest InterHash ever. 

There was generally a very positive report back from those who attended. The event got of to a great start with representatives of the host nations entering the arena on elephants.

There was plenty of cold beer, served by nubile Singha Beer nymphets; the food was plentiful, varied and readily accessible; there was also red and white wine; the transport worked despite the numbers and the runs were good to excellent and seemed to improve from Saturday to Sunday. The lantern show made the closing ceremony as dramatic as the opening event.

     On the negative side the public address system was too loud for many while the very size of the event made it more difficult than normal to find old friends in the crowd.

Perth 2008 Updated

InterHash probably came to Perth too late. By the time they hosted the Australian economy was booming and the currency strong, a problem when most registration fees were expressed in other currencies. In addition the local authorities were not impressed with the event, suggesting Perth was an international city that should be aiming higher, like building a Grand Prix track!

As a result finding a venue at an affordable price was an immediate and considerable problem and it was this that probably forced the Easter date. That however created additional problems, such as all pubs closing on the Friday and no public transport running.

On the positive side just about everything organized by the Hash Committee went well, and the runs got particularly good reviews as did the goody bags. Many individual committee members drew praise for their hard work.

The problems were generally with the site management. There was some feeling that Gloucester Park, a harness racing stadium, was an ideal site, spoilt by the sites own management. The security guards came in for particular criticism, suggesting that, with no trouble to contend with they relieved the boredom by hassling people. One urban legend reports that a hasher having his shorts pulled down by fellow hashers was then promptly arrested.

Another issue was that the Perth committee were not allowed to place the stage in front of the Grandstand as they wished, meaning many people struggled to see the Hash Cabaret.

     Beer was in plastic cups, causing queues and hardly being environmentally friendly. The policy of ‘two hands, two beers’ added to the queues and upset many hashers. This was particularly evident after the Red Dress Run.

     The down-down competition was also affected, the local management deciding, it seems at late notice, that this was ‘binge drinking’ and could not take place within their grounds.

Kuching 2010 New

A few weeks before the event emails were speeding around the hash community warning of disagreements in the committee and predicting disaster at InterHash 2010. In the end Kuching was not disastrous, but many found it disappointing and it was certainly controversial.

On the positive side the beautiful city of Kuching provided an excellent setting and the local press were fully supportive. The stars of the show were the local residents who gave a warm welcome to 4500 or so hashers from 60 different counties. Beyond that there was plenty to complain about.

While nobody can blame the committee for the tropical storm that broke out at the start of the Red Dress Run, it did seem a poor omen! Ironically didn’t rain again until after the result of InterHash 2012 announcement.

Held in the car park of Kuching Civic Centre, the arena was too small for the majority to see anything other than by relay screens. Beer appeared to be rationed, and when there was beer the stalls ran out of drinking vessels. Hugh queues also formed at meal times. (The stall serving Indian food gets some credit for being better than the rest). There were complainants that even on the Thursday registration, some sizes of t shirts had already run out.

Buses were a major point of contention. Many runs were A to B with a long, medium and short option and with the buses dropping the pack off at different points along the trail.  This meant not only getting onto the correct bus for your run, but the correct bus for the distance you wanted to run. However the buses seemed to be parked in no particular order, with hundreds of hashers wandering lost, often finding the bus they wanted had gone early and having to take whatever run was left.

The bus left an hour earlier than planned, but that made little difference as the buses didn’t go to where they were advertised as going, and none of the trails resembles anything as described in the magazine. Amnesia

The Ball Breaker certainly got lots of attention. It was 23k, but this was 23 k either straight up or straight down a hill! The pack took 2 hours to reach the first beer stop, by which time they had only covered 5k! Many hashers, including some claiming to be ultra marathon runners, dropped out and of the 300 odd who started, only about 130 finished. Indeed the Ball Breaker will probably be remembered as a great success!

The terrain on all the trails came in for some criticism, with narrow paths and steep hills meaning there was far more walking than running,

Our 5K medium hash became a 7-10K jungle run up the steep face of a mountain and down the other side. It was so difficult none of the hares took part!! This is perhaps a little harsh as it could be described as mismanagement at its best, but it would have been sensible to have known the severity of the trail beforehand. Amnesia

In general the event appears to have been put together on a very tight budget and in too much of a hurry. It was the voting for Interhash 2012 however that will always be the issue that 2010 will be remembered for. See Voting

Report by Amnesia with addition thoughts and information from Marmite, Pole Fucker, Clever Dick and Shakesprick

InterHash Beer

Beer – and plenty of it – is of course central to a successful InterHash. Three breweries have had the distinction of providing the InterHash beer on more than one occasion. Anchor lead the way, having twice provided hash beer in KL, first in 1980 and again in 1998, and once in Indonesia.

     San Miguel was the official beer on two different occasions and in two separate countries (Hong Kong and the Philippines). Beer Singha, having sponsored Pattaya in 1986 joined this elite group in Chiang Mai in 2006. On both occasions Singha have used InterHash to launch new beers, first Singha Gold and then Singha Light.

     Despite the high rate of beer consumption amongst hashers, breweries have not always been willing to exploit the market. For example many considered it a surprise that ‘Brains’ did not become the Hash beer in Cardiff. 

    Some breweries have also seen fit to provide special commemorative beer cans in association with InterHash, including Jakarta, Bali, Rotorua, KL 1998, Goa and Chiang Mai.

Hash beers:

1

1980    Kuala lumpur                         Anchor

1982    Jakarata                                   Anker

1984    Sydney                                    Fosters

1986    Pattaya                                    Singha

1988    Bali                                            Bintang

1990    Manillia                                    San Miguel

1992    Phuket                                      Singha

1994    Roturrua                                  Steinlager

1996    Cyprus                                    Keo

1998    Kula Lumpar                          Anchor

2000    Tasmania                                Cascade

2002    Goaq                                        Kingfisher

2004    Cardiff

2006    Chang Mai

InterHash debate

There has always been debate as to whether InterHash should be an Asian based event or belong to the whole World. The arguments for InterHash remaining in Asia are centred on the emotional tug of its origins and originators. Less noble factors are founded in economics, fun factor and practicality. 

    As Frank ‘Whorator’ Benfield argued in 1986, following the successful Pattaya InterHash, ‘Pattaya fits InterHash as perfectly as InterHash fits Pattaya. Hashing belongs in Asia.’   

     There was also a perception that if InterHash went to Europe or America, the block vote of the home Hashers might prevent the event from returning to its geographic and spiritual roots in East Asia.

    However the success of InterHashes in Australia, New Zealand Cyprus and Cardiff has to a degree negated such perceptions. InterHash as a 'world' event now seems decided and debate today centres more on the equity of sharing InterHash in some sort of a sequential geographic manner.

InterHash – numbers

InterHash attendance is not as easy to pin down as you would expect.  There are many figures bandied about, and in the first instance the discrepancy arises between those registered and those who actually attended.  However the general trend has been a steady increase from 988 in Hong Kong in 1978 to 5800 in KL in 1998. The one blip in the graph occurred in Manila in 1990, when only 1610 attended following political upheaval associated with Cory Aquino’s Presidency.  

      Hobart in 2000 was never going to attract the record numbers that attended in KL but slipping below the 3,000 mark for the first time in eight years can only partly be explained by geography – it was no more remote than Rotorua. Numbers have risen since then with Chiang Mai attracting a record attendance of 5,700.

Below are Whorator’s records of InterHash attendances collected and stored since he first went to Hong Kong in 1978:

1978    Hong Kong             800

1980    Kuala Lumpar        1,200

1982    Jakarta                     1300

1984    Sydney                    1,654

1986    Pattaya                    2,100

1988    Bali                            2,450

1990    Manila                      1,400  

1992    Phuket                      2,500

1994    Rotorua                    3,650

1996    Cyprus                    4,500

1998    Kuala Lumpur        5,800

2000    Tasmania                2,800

2002    Goa                           3,500 (registered 2,5000 showed up)

2004    Cardiff                     4,500

2006    Chang Mai              5,700

InterHash Survivors

The survivors are those who have attended every InterHash. An early Hash publication, ‘Half a Mind’, listed 24 Hashers who had attended every event between 1978 and 1986. These were:

Valerie Antonie (KL Harriettes) Wes Carter (Perth) Phillip Chapman (Jakarta) Alan Chew (Petaling) Joseph Chinn (Brunei) Mike Cickman (Seletar) Geoff Feast (Port Vila) Wolfgang Gust (Karachi) Max Hore (Perth) Ed Johnstone (Jebel) Cameroun Knight (Banjul) Stephen Kueh (Kuching) Bernadette Layfield (Hong Kong) Peter Lee (Perth) Bob Leonard (Petaling) Leon Lui (Seletar) Victor Mason (Bali) Virginia Ng (Hong Kong Ladies) John Pollock (Casuarinas) James Sandoshan (Seletar Ross Singer (Jakarta) Ronnie Strachan (Jakarta) and Evan Wham (Brisbane).  

      By the mid-nineties ‘Hares and Hounds’ listed only 5 survivors. These included Philthy, Chee Bye, The Wolf, Whorator and The Penguin. In fact Ron ‘The Penguin’ Strachan, despite registering for every InterHash, had actually missed Phuket because of a death in the family while the list had omitted Drainoil. It is possible that Ross ‘Opera’ Singer and John Pollock (both Australians) might also have been ‘survivors’ at this point, although is not known if John Pollock attended InterHash Phuket 1992.

     By Goa in 2002 the numbers were down from a possible 7 to a confirmed 5. The five, in alphabetical order were:

·         Frank ‘Whorator’ Benfield (Australian)

·         Phil ‘Philthy’ Chapman (Australian);

·         Allan ‘CheeBye’ Chee (Malaysian);

·         Wolfgang ‘The Wolf’ Gust (German);

·         Bob ‘Drainoil’ Leonard (English).

‘Whorator’ was the next survivor to drop out, failing to attend first Goa in 2002 after registering as an Early Bird; and then Cardiff due to a severe case of InterHash burnout. Whorator returned to the InterHash fold in Chiang Mai 2006. The 4 survivors plus The Penguin, Whorator and Kai ‘Der Tulip Eater’ Petersen were all Hares on run 22 the Old Farts Run at Chiang Mai. See Old Farts Run. Just before InterHash 2010 The Wolf died of a heart attack while on the Frankfurt H3 trail, bringing the Survivors down to 3

·        

·         Phil ‘Philthy’ Chapman (Australian);

·         Allan ‘CheeBye’ Chee (Malaysian);

·         Bob ‘Drainoil’ Leonard (English).

InterHash T-shirts

T-shirts have been handed out at InterHash events since the first gathering in Hong Kong in 1978. That issue was a simple two colour design and since then shirts have tended to become more complex, for example the Bali 1988 design. However we are probably still waiting to see a truly classic InterHash t-shirt.

It should be noted that in addition to the official goody bag t-shirt, others exist for officials or as pre-event promotions. In addition many hashers travelling in groups design their own t-shirts to wear at the event.

A definite list of InterHash t-shirts therefore doesn’t exist, but most of the official t-shirts can be viewed at Go to the Hash.

InterHash - voting 

1978 for 1980

On the last day of InterHash Hong Kong 1978, a general discussion of interested InterHashers agreed that a second event would take place in Kula Lumpur in 1980. This was decided amiably over dinner and there was no voting, no loss of face, only consensus in a most Asian manner.

 1980 for 1982

In KL 1980 there was a meeting of On-Secs and GMs who allocated InterHash to Jakarta in 1982.  In fact at the time there was reluctance, rather than enthusiasm, among those present to volunteer to host the event, as everybody was already sufficiently Hashfully experienced to realise the magnitude of the task. 

1982 for 1984

In 1982 Sydney actually volunteered as InterHash hosts and won support for their idea largely on the basis of an enthusiastic presentation.

1984 for 1986

In 1984 the attending InterHashers made a choice between Tim Hughes’ bid for InterHash in Thailand, Victor Mason’s less than enthusiastic bid for Bali and (a forgotten) bidder from the Philippines. 

Thailand won easily on a show of hands and a photo of the successful vote was reproduced in the InterHash 1986 event magazine.

There was no identity checking of any kind and the voters consisted of anyone who was sober and able to attend the 9.00 am gathering.

1986 for 1988

The 1986 Pattaya voting was held at the Royal Gardens function room, with tea, coffee and biscuits for refreshments.  Some hardy souls brought their own beer!  Once again there was no supervision, identification or monitoring of the voters. 

David ‘VanGo’ Painter presented the San Diego bid to hold InterHash 1988 in the form of a 7 day cruise on the Queen Mary. Seletar H3 made an interesting and sound submission to the meeting followed by Victor Mason’s bid for Bali.

This time Nightjar was prepared.  He described Bali’s running country as world’s best, Bintang beer as world’s best and early registration at US$60 as the world’s cheapest.  He closed his submission with the following doggerel, which convinced the voting InterHashers to choose Bali for InterHash 1988:

“So now allow myself to state;

Dear Hashers do not hesitate

Your paltry sums to consecrate

And thumbs from bums extrapolate

That you may come and celebrate

With Bali Hash in 88!”

1988 for 1990

By now the number of Hashes was exploding and so did the attendance at InterHash meetings, causing some concern that the voting process was being corrupted. 

The bid presentations and voting were completed in the specially constructed member’s pavilion at the Sidakarya Cricket Ground.  As Nightjar was 'tired & emotional', Whorator chaired the proceedings amid such perks (read bribes) as free T-shirts and beer with everyone present claiming to be a voting GM, many of fictitious Hashes.

     ‘Dagy’ Guest, GM of all things Hashing in NZ, opened proceedings, promising plenty of cold beer at cheap prices, quality accommodation.  Unfortunately the NZ promotional material was caught in customs. 

Rob ‘Malibog’ Denny then invited all present to join InterHash 1990 in Manila as it celebrated 100 years of San Miguel brewing. 'Everyone is invited' was the catch cry. In fact Rob proudly claims that the Philippines bid was the first to go in for bribery and corruption, with Manila offering beer and t-shirts to those present.

The vote was always going to go with beer and T-shirts and Dagy’s NZ bidders went away disappointed on this occasion.

1990 for 1992

In Manila 1990, Kuching opened the bidding then dropped out leaving a straight battle between Phuket and Hobart. 

Phuket was well prepared and won by a 106-50 majority vote. The Hobart crew assured the meeting they were not done with and announced they would bid again, while Dagy gave notice of NZ’s intention to bid in 1992, with support from Steinlager beer and Air New Zealand, as they presented 'The Thunder Down Under'.

1992 for 1994

In 1992, at Phuket, the Kiwis led by Ken ‘The Hound’ Pascoe prevailed with an immaculately organised bid, starting with a promotional relay from Singapore to Phuket. The Kiwi support overwhelmed a Gold Coast bid with ease and InterHash 1994 went to Rotorua on NZ’s North Island.

1994 for 1996

Three venues were bidding for the 1996 event and it became, in the words of Digit, ‘A legendary vote, which I'm sure will be remembered in the annals of Hashdom as the last plurality vote for an InterHash venue.’

The contestants were Hong Kong, Bandung and Cyprus and the Asian vote was split between Hong Kong and Bandung, allowing Cyprus to win on a minority vote. There was a feeling that Hong Kong might have won, but for their proposed December date.

1996 for 1998

In the open air arena at Cyprus in 1996, the promotional goodies were everywhere and the meeting became awash with icy cold beer and perhaps a little unruly.

 KL were offering a combined bid from the Klang Valley Hashes, and against them were Duban and Cairns. The Aussies put up a spirited fight behind their ‘It will be Great Mate’ slogan but there was always going to be only one winner for the 50^th anniversary of Hashing and KL it was for 1998.

1998 for 2000

Bidding had become more and more organised, with sponsors signed up and governments providing material support. It wa snow quite normal for future bidders to make a presentation of their intentions four years before the event.

On this occasion a series of ballots would be held until one bid had a clear majority and Hobart easily won against Cairns and Durban.

Cardiff made a preliminary presentation to sound out the feelings about a future InterHash in the UK.

2000 for 2002

There were three bids to host InterHash 2002, Goa, Perth and Cardiff. The British bid enjoyed considerable government and commercial support and Cardiff won the right to present first on the toss of a coin.

Their bid team consisted of several speakers, both Hashers and non-Hashers, who have been accused of adopting a negative approach and spending too much of their presentation time revealing their perceived weaknesses in the Goa bid.

Goa kept it simple, with Digit’s presentation supplemented by those from TNT and InterHash survivors. 

     There was no formal count of the votes.  In the second and final round those supporting Cardiff moved to one side and those supporting Goa moved to the other side. It is suggested that Cardiff’s presentation style cost them votes and while the vote has been described as close, from the stage Digit felt they had won approximately two thirds of the vote. InterHash 2002 was off to Goa.

2002 for 2004

In 2002, Cardiff made it clear this was the last time they would bid. Opponents were Perth and Wellington.

Edmonton kicked off the fun with a low-key and well-received bid for 2006. Perth, knowing they were underdogs, attempted to point out the weaknesses in the other bids. Cardiff sought to address their two major weaknesses, visas and cost, and didn’t answer either question particularly well. However at the start of the weekend they had staged a brilliant party and this had left a general feeling that they would be good hosts.

     The vote was again by movement of Hashers. Perth was eliminated in the first vote with Cardiff clearly holding a big lead. A second round confirmed their victory and InterHash 2004 was Cardiff’s.

2004 for 2006

At Cardiff in 2004, there was a move back to everybody present getting a vote. InterHashers were issued a card on which they placed their four choices in order. This system proved effective, if a little dull. 

The bids were from Edmonton, Perth, Bali and Chiang Mai, the new voting system worked without any hitches and Changi Mai won, with Perth 2^nd and Bali 3^rd. 

2006 for 2008

There were six bidders for InterHash 2008. Four were from Asian bases, Bali, Penang and Singapore, plus a Malaysian bid based on the Genting Highlands Casino.

Perth was once again trying to bring InterHash back to Australia and Kenya was making an African bid.

Perth were first round winners with an overall majority of 50.66% of the votes, well clear of any rivals. The actual numbers were Perth 1912 votes, followed by Malaysia and Kenya with 589 and Bali with 328. Penang with 199 and Singapore  with 140 brought up the rear.

The win meant a return to the Easter weekend, which was the date for the first InterHashes in Hong Kong and KL.

2008 for 2010

Report required

2010 for 2012

The voting was a straight fight between Kenya and Java, which should have been very simple, but rumours were circulating from the Friday of voting irregularities. Some hashers claim they were not given proper voting slips in their packs and the slips were unidentifiable and easily reproduced, which lead to further claims of reproduced slips appearing in the count in bungles. There were also rumours of bogus ballot boxes. It must be emphasised that a lot of these rumours were unsubstantiated.

However, well before the announcement of the vote on the Sunday night, the result was being discussed and discounted with further unsubstantiated rumour of vote rigging, so the announcement that Java had won by a large margin in a record 90% voting turnout was no surprise. What was a surprise were the boos and catcalling that overwhelmed the site when it was announced that Java had won.

The hash then voted with their feet and large numbers of hashers continued to sign up for the Kenya event. This was a travesty as both teams had worked very hard to win and win by a fair result.

It looks as if 2010 might see an official InterHash in Borobudur, and an unofficial, but well supported event in Kenya.

2010 for 2012

Events in Kuching in 2010 has ramifications for 2014. There is a feeling that the majority of Asian runners will always vote for an Asian event. This is

i.                     Because of the lingering belief that InterHash belongs in Asia and

ii.                   Financial restraints, made worse in this time of world recession.

Presumably a majority of the hashers who go to Boroudur in 2012 will be Asian based, while Kenya will attract a high percentage of their runners from Europe. This would seem to make it more difficult for Brussels to win against any Asian bid.

Report by Amnesia with addition thoughts and information from Shakesprick