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In-depth

USA

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Introduction

Hashing is big in the States. They have nearly 500 kennels listed and many of these claim packs of 50 and over.

America InterHash, which draws the majority of its participants from the USA, started in 1984 for those unable to reach InterHash and has grown into one of the most prestigious event on the hash circuit.  In 1998 Larry ‘Stray Dog’ McDowell decided there was sufficient enthusiasm for a USA Nash Hash as well. It is surprising that the States has not yet staged InterHash and Americans certainly attend the event in great numbers.

      Hashing in the States also has its own flavour.  Weekend trips to the countryside are an important part of the culture and are not quite like hashing anywhere else. Although America is 'the land of the free' that really means free to make money. In many other ways -  anti drinking laws, the heavy handed authority of the police and prudishness - the Americans live under a far stricter set of conventions and regulations than Europeans. Therefore, when they get alone in the countryside with fellow, American hashers they tend to let rip with notable rowdiness in the circle, wild drinking and a fair bit of nudity. ‘The Red Dress Run’ is an American invention that has been adopted by the rest of the world.  

On the down side the officious nature of their society has caused more hassle over the laying of flour than anywhere else in the world. Similarly the police regularly turn up at circles to see what is going and, in some places, to enforce public drinking laws. Similarly respect for (fear of) drinking laws means many kennels limit their events to those over 21.

History

     The first American hasher was probably David Dean, who ran with Mother Hash in the early fifties.  The first American kennels were founded by visiting foreigners in the seventies, whether this first took place in Washington or Fort Eustis is still hotly debated.

It is possible that troops serving in Vietnam discovered hashing while on R&R in Japan and Hong Kong, but most of the lads probably had other ideas of what they wanted to do during a valuable and short spell of leave.

America is however the greatest military power the world has ever known and US military personal have certainly been introduced to hashing while on postings to Korea, Philippines, Japan, Germany and elsewhere.  

Civilian ex-pats, many from the oil patch, returning home have also played their part, but US hashing quickly picked up sufficient momentum to create internal growth.  This meant that some kennels started up without knowing what hashing was really all about, but America InterHash and American attendance at international events has helped to spread the concept of true hashing.

Chronology of US hashes (only hashes still active)

Hashing by regions

The North East

North to south

Maine

Maine lies way up north on the Canadian border, Orono H3 were founded in 1996 and is also known as the Bug City Hash.   Maine ManicH3 might also be active but it is hard to find information about them.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is small in size and low in population.  Hashing is a recent arrival, with Seacoast H3 starting up in 2004 and New Hampshire H3 in 2006.

Vermont

Green Mount H3 dates from 1986 and run bi weekly on Wednesdays, although there are fewer runs in winter.  Burlington H3 was founded in 2000 as ’the crude yet unrefined hash’ and have a medium sized but active pack.

Massachusetts

Boston H3 dates from February 1976 (founder Bob Wood ex Washington) and runs in summer on Wednesdays, Sundays in winter and has lots of extra activities.  Recently Boston gained a Suburbs monthly hash and a Full Moon.  In May 2003, Jamaica Plain H3 was founded to meet on weekends when Boston was not running.  The sea resort of Cape Cod has an occasional hash but this largely depends on the presence of visiting hashers.

Connecticut

Ridgefield (population 7,000 but growing) appears an unlikely venue for hashing but the presence of  Schlumberger-Doll brings in a regular flow of ex-pat scientists and technical workers and the kennel is well established.  Their badge is a rather nice combination of beer and atoms and members have been heard to mutter ‘bloody overpaid scientists’ when runners turn up at the start in their latest model sport cars. Committee members such as GM ‘Moby Dick’ and RA ‘Dandelion’ have been around more or less since the start. Hartford, with a metro population of around 125,000, has a kennel that meets every two weeks.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island is a small state with two hashes.  Rhode Island H3, founded in February1987 by Ole ‘Sparks’ Vigerstol out of Sydney and Newport H3 founded in 1989.  Rhode is a Monday hash, keen to get out into countryside.  Newport run on Sunday afternoons with a monthly Full Moon run and a PMS Ladies only run on the 13^th of every month.

New York Updated

New York, likes to believe it is the centre of the world - and it might have a point. Hashing is well covered on their joint Website at www.hashny.com.  

For people without a PhD in geography some explanation might be necessary.  There are the New York City hashes, those close enough to New York City to really be part of it, and hashes in the rest of New York State.  In fact the original hash in this area, the New York H3 founded by Ian Cummings along with Barbara and Charlie Woodhouse in January 1978, is actually based in Westchester and Fairfield, a fair way out on the Metro line. 

Hashing didn’t move into the city proper until New York City H3 was founded in 1984.  In 1993 the MetroTech Center opened in downtown Brooklyn and ‘Kanaga’ was transferred there by The Chase Manhattan Bank.  This led to the founding of Brooklyn Hash by Kanaga and Charles Dugan in 1993.  They run in the outer boroughs of Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island and claim the best beer in the city, Brooklyn Lager (or some acceptable substitute).  

Queens H3 runs on alternate Mondays to Brooklyn and was one of several new groups to spring up in the second half of the nineties.  These include Greater Gotham Full Moon and New York City Harriettes. New York Runs tend to be point to point with the hares jumping in a taxi with all the bags. The pack also tends to gets strung out, so a mobile is an important extra item. Indeed once the run starts some of the hash information lines are programmed to switch over from announcing the meeting point to informing callers of the final venue, so that lost hashers can be rejoined with the pack.

Returning to the State of New York there are hashes at Fairfield and, a little further away, Rochester, which is actually famous for being the Flour City (that’s flour as in bread not  as in ‘here are a dozen roses will you go to bed with me?’ type flowers.)

Long Island H3 only runs occasionally and Buffalo every two weeks and counts on visitors from neighbouring hashes to boost the numbers.

New Jersey

New Jersey is a weird place!  Think of that wonderful opening to the Sopranos. Although crime is not high by national averages there are hotspots and Camden regularly challenges for the honour of being America’s most dangerous city.  Don’t panic, there’s not a hash there. Yet! 

There is a lot of industry however, such as oil refineries and jets roaring into international airports, and as Princeton H3 note, when they say they like shiggy; they are actually talking of toxic waste sites!  

All in all New Jersey is the perfect home for Rumson H3, founded in 1978 by Keith Kanaga and Gil Jackson out of KL and who claim to be the Hells Angels of hashing. ‘No singing, circle or down downs just a run and lots of drinking.’ 

Princeton H3 came along in 1979 thanks to Joe ‘Hopalong’ Burns, ex- Medan.  Their motto is ‘No rest for the weary. No mercy for the Stupid’.  Summit H3 in the city of that name was founded a year later.  

Gypsy H3 in Trenton (founded 1991) runs monthly, at least sometimes.  More recently South Jersey H3 was formed in 2002

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is one of the five Middle Atlantic States and Philadelphia is the biggest city with a population of just over 2 million. 

Philadelphia H3 was founded in December 1977 via Washington and is rapidly approaching 1500 runs. It meets on Saturdays in winter and Tuesdays in summer. Liberty Bell H3 ‘Cum get hammered with the Liberty Bell’ started in April 2001.  Two other recent additions are Wharton H3 and the Ben Franklin H3.  Wharton is the hash of the famous school of business and was founded in the fall semester of 2000.  The Ben Franklin Mob H3 have been hashing on Thursdays since 2004.  

    Over in Pittsburgh (with 2.3 million people in the Metro area) there is Pittsburgh H3 founded in 1980 by Jay ‘Cap’t Lewd’ Gore.  A Full Moon Hash followed in 1989.

Harrisburg has the Harrisburg-Hershey H3 which is closely linked with the TMI Nuclear Meltdown H3.  This kennel meets on full moons in the shadow of Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station, where they run and then drink green liquid.  

    Of the other hashes, Reading H3 is the best established, dating from 1984.  It is particularly proud of its annual Independence Day Sun Rise hash as well as a memorial run to former Mayor Hannahoe.

Delaware

Known as ‘The First State’ Delaware is one of the five Middle Atlantic States with a population of quite a bit under a million.  Blue Hen H3, based in Newark, was founded in October 1992 by Tom ‘Fuk Stik’ Tarka and Dan ‘La Poubelle’ Rosen, the latter a virgin. It claims to be a ‘heavy drinking, obnoxious singing’ kennel that puts on medium length runs with beer checks.  It closed down for three months at one point but has struggled through this bad spell.  Del-a-Where? H3 started in 1998 and is an occasional hash, as is Dewey Beach (Do Me A Beach) H3.

Maryland

Baltimore is the biggest city in the state and the local Annapolis H3 was founded in 1986 running on alternative Sundays in winter and on Wednesdays in the summer. Baltimore followed in June 1990 and used the free Sundays.  There was considerable overlap between the two kennels and in 1994 Pat ‘Hangman’ Lynch found himself Grand Master of both groups and under his guidance they became Baltimore and Annapolis H3.  As to be expected there were traditionalists who objected to the union, and particularly losing the Wednesday runs, so the Maryland Dirt Road Hash was created to fill this gap.  The pack can occasionally dip down to the 15 mark, small numbers for such a big city.

Washington DC

Washington, D.C., often just referred to as DC - which actually stands for District of Columbia - is the capital city of the United States of America.  Physically DC is kind of surrounded by Maryland and boarding Virginia.  

It was here that hashing first came to America (but don’t say that down in Fort Eustis) when Bill Panton founded Washington DC H3 in 1972.  

The hash scene is now busy, with a White House H3 (founded 1987 and on 1000 plus runs) a Harriettes and the popular ‘The Everyday is Wednesday’ hash.  The Over the Hump H3 usually gets out of town.  DC is also the home of an annual Red Dress run which usually attracts at least 500 hashers. There is a Washington Hash website at www.dchashing.org

West Virginia

West Virginia is famous for coal and for breaking away from Virginia during the American Civil War and sometime you get the impression that not much has happened since then.  Only 15% of the population has a degree, the lowest percentage in the States and (despite all that coal) the economy is depressed and has been for as long as anyone can remember.  

Charleston at 53,000 and Huntington at 52,000 are the biggest cities, so all in all its not promising hash territory.  There is a Fairmont H3 that is certainly enthusiastic, meeting ‘about 4 times a week’ but the pack is small and only the Tuesday run, when they go to a local bar for a few beers after the run, sounds promising.  Shenandoah Valley H3, which is also known as the Winchester H3, is ‘’R’ rated but in a funny way’ and offers live trials and weekends away.

The South East

North to south

Virginia

Hashing in Virginia centres around Hampton Road, a collection of seven counties, plus independent cities, which has seven hashes within its arc.  

Foremost is Fort Eustis H3. This kennel was founded in November 1971 by Frank Arnold out of Longmoor, which makes it the longest continual running hash in the States.

Great Falls H3, dating from 1982 and Mount Vernon (1985), are also well established kennels.  

Of the occasional hashes, it is worth noting the Titanic Memorial Full Moon, if only because they drink stout and raw egg down downs.

Kentucky

Kentucky is known as the ‘Bluegrass State’ a nickname based on the fact that the grass is blue!  There are about four million people and half a dozen hashes, most of them recent arrivals.

Beaver Creek H3 was founded by Michael 'Vinney's On Top' Karriker and Toby 'C-Diff' Harter in 2001.  Both founders have since moved on but make the occasional guest appearance. Beaver Creek usually meets bi-monthly on Saturdays in the Fort Campbell area.  

Licking Valley (2006) and Bluegrass H3 (2005) are more recent arrivals on the hash scene.  The latter was founded by Eric Smith who learned his hashing in Lima.  Fort Knox Horse H3 is actually a horseback hash.

North Carolina

North Carolina was one of the original 13 colonies and once home to the Wright brothers. Close to 9 million people live there and Charlotte is the 20^th largest city in the USA, the metro area having a population of 1.7 million.  

The senior hash here is Carolina Trash H3, founded on the first of April, 1984.  It has a busy program of special events, which over the years have included an air hash, a Gulf War celebration hash and annual trips into Mexico.  A surprising number of events seem to get rained off, including the 2000 North and South Carolina joint hash, where it rained so much that all the tents flooded.  

Charlotte H3 ‘the best little hash house in the south’ has been active since 1992.

Tennessee

Memphis is the hash capital of the state and Memphis H3 have been meeting twice monthly on Saturdays since being founded in June 1982.  They are a wild bunch and warnings of nudity on their website should be taken seriously.  The Memphis Dark Side is a monthly pub crawl and there is a Memphis Bash. Nashville has the Music City H3 dating to 1991.  A few other hashes are listed.

South Carolina

South Carolina ‘the south starts here’ is hardly a hash strong hold.  Beaufort H3 dates from 1989 and runs twice a week, but the handful of others hashes tend to meet monthly or spontaneously.

Georgia

A big state that is big on hashing. Atlanta is the major city and Atlanta H4 (founded by Warren ‘Sypolit’ Harbett out of Medan) has been meeting on Saturday afternoons since 1982.  Their website covers another 10 kennels in or close to Atlanta.  There is also a Georgia website.  

This is serious shiggy country, for example Hog Mountain H3, which runs on alternate Sundays with Black Sheep H3, boast that the ‘runs are always wet’.

Alabama

Alabama is sub-tropical and very hot in summer.  Indeed it claims to be the hottest of all the 50 states.  Magic City H3 makes use of this to host an annual Dog Daze ‘Hotter than Hell’ Run every August.  Magic City is one of five kennels in the Birmingham region.  There is also a Birmingham H3 which was founded by Stray Dog and Rocket Shitty H3 in nearby Huntsville.  

    However the oldest Alabama hash is Montgomery H3, which was founded in 1983.  It has a hotline, a good website and meets every Sunday.

Mississippi

Mississippi is considered part of the Deep South and takes its name from the Mississippi River.  As of 2005, Mississippi has an estimated population of 2,921,088, with one of the lowest per capita personal incomes in the states.  

There are two hashes, the Oxford-University Community H3  (founded 2005) and Biloxi H3.  Biloxi is located in Harrison County on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and is home to the Keesler Air Force Base.  It gets a mix of military and civilian hashers on their Saturday runs.  Their motto is ‘We Fear No shaggy’ which perhaps they should, their website has a picture of a fair sized alligator spotted on one run.

Louisiana

Way down in the south, Louisiana is swamp country and shiggy features prominently. New Orleans is the main centre of local hashing with New Orleans H3 (founded by John ‘Swamp Rat’ Brelands via Houston) running on Mondays in summer and Saturdays in winter.  It is closely linked with the Big Easy H3 that promises demanding 6-8 mile trials.  

Mud Bug H3 is a Leesville based hash that meets every Saturday and claims its runs are only ‘semi-shiggy’.  Baton Rouge H3 run twice a month, the nearest Thursday night to a full moon and the 3^rd Saturday. Madri Gras Madness is the major event on the local hash calendar. 

Florida Updated

Florida is home to the US space program, Disneyland and an awful lot of people seeking the good life.  Naturally, therefore, it is rich in hash tradition, with some 40 listed kennels.  

Orlando H3 (founded 1985), Mosquito County H3 (1985 - with the legendary Giles ‘Patchwork Quilt’ Pagett-Wilkes as founding father).  Miami (1988) Tampa (1988) Palm Beach and Daytona 1988 are the senior hashes.  Orlando have numerous claims to fame including kidnapping the Atlanta down-down trophy. Their grand mistress Nancy 'Slam Dunk' Davis suffered a serious back injury on Run 4 and the on-on continued in the hospital emergency ward.

Daytona run Wednesdays with an occasional longer Saturday run.‘ Gilligan’ is on 600 plus runs, a good 150 clear of anybody else.  Palm Beach runs every other weekend with the chance of a bike hash on the free weekends.  Key West, a kind of Caribbean attached on the end of the state, has a hash that dates from 1993, that runs biweekly.  The Scuba Cruise H3 is worth a mention, being an annual scuba trip in September-October that spends ten days diving and hashing around the Bahamas and the Keys.

South West

East to west

Arkansas

The State of Arkansas ranges from mountains to the eastern lowlands, which run along the Mississippi River. Little Rock is the state capital and Little Rock H3 was started in 1974 by Bob ‘Hazardous Waste’ Rooke, from Mother Hash, which makes it one of America’s oldest kennels.  Fayetteville H3 dates from 1998.

Okalahoma

Okalahoma is considered part of the American heartland and Oklahoma City is the state capital.  It is also home to OKC Wild West Hash, founded in 1999 and running every Saturday with 3-5 mile trails, often with a cross country element.  Tulsa is the other major city and is home to the Trailing in Tulsa Shiggy (TITS) hash.

Texas Updated

Texas (steers and queers) is a state that likes to believe it is a country and Texas hashers act that way, with, for example a Texas Nash hash. Houston the biggest city, followed by Dallas and San Antonia.  

Dallas H3 is the oldest Texas kennel, dating to August 1978 when it was founded by Dewey ‘Pockets’ Dethrow via Singapore.  It only meets fortnightly, but the formation of Fort Worth in 1986 means hashers can now get a run every week without travelling too far.  

Houston H3 started in 1979 and claimed to stage 'the best on-ons in the western hemisphere'. The mid eighties saw the addition of several more kennels including Austin, El Paso and San Antonio.  San Antonio has two hashes, SAH3 and the Kiss My Hash H3.  The latter was formed in 1996 to offer a family orientated hash environment.  However, Texas InterHash in 1998 brought the kennels together and many runners now turn out with both groups.

El Paso was founded by Little John and attracts good size packs for their Sunday runs.  Their annual event is “Tex-Mex” which is held every year on MLK weekend.  "We get a pretty good turn out of 100- 150 hashers and rent out arguably the nastiest motel in all of Hashdom “The Mesa Inn.” This year is our 10^th annual Tex-Mex and the theme is “Tex-Mex 2010 a Space Oddity.”

As the popularity of hashing grew there has been an increase in monthly and full moon kennels as well as a growth of kennels away from the big cities.

With thanks to Wakes Me

New Mexico

New Mexico is a wild place (it only joined the USA in 1912) with terrain ranging from deserts to snow-capped peaks.  Las Cruces H3 is the oldest kennel, dating to 1990, but there is little information available on either them or Los Alamos H3. 

Santa Fe (founded by Michael 'Bee Fuck'  Stachow in September 1992) is certainly active, as is Albuquerque H3.  Socorro H3 (founded 2003) is a recent addition and is a family hash which meets at the Socorro Springs Brewery monthly with packs ranging from of 4 to 10.

Arizona

Phoenix Wrong Way H3 is the biggest hash in the region, founded by David ‘Wrong Way’ Arnold and Rebecca ‘Lazarus’ Arnold via Mexico City and Costa Rica.  It runs on the 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th Saturdays of the week  A legend on this hash is Charlie ‘Captain Crash’ Cobb, a pilot who, having survived one crash, was killed in 1992 taking off from the local airport.  In 1997 Phoenix was victims of one of the earliest ‘anthrax’ scares. 

Phoenix Iguana H3 meets 2 or 3 times a year and is a road hash that heads for venues such as the Grand Canyon or Mexico.

Mid-West

East to west

Ohio

Ohio is part of the Great Lakes region, a cultural and geographical crossroads with 11 million residents and a fair bit of industry.  There are a dozen or so hashes scattered around the state including Cleveland H3 (founded 1990) while Dayton is another strong hash centre.

Michigan

Detroit is the biggest city and Motown (Detroit) H3 date from April 1987, with John ‘Dr. Death’ Hain being the founding father.  Ann Arbor H3 came along in 1989 thanks to Anne ‘Babe’ Hiltner, a Motown Harriette who decided the city was big enough for two kennels.  The two packs drank together ‘in some sort of incestuous symbiotic relationship’ until 08 May 2004, when the GMs ‘S.O.G.’ (Ann Arbor Hash) and ‘Ford Flaphead’ (Motown Hash) announced that the two hashes ‘are now and forever more merged into ONE hash which will henceforth be known as the Motown-Ann Arbor Hash House Harriers’.

Other local hashes include Great Lansing H3 who date to June 1999.  Most of its runs are urban or on the Michigan State University campus and only occasionally in the countryside.  Several of the pack, including founder 'Beer Sensei' started their hashing in Japan.  Bay City H3 describes itself as ‘The best hash in the mid-west’ and was founded by Lee 'Bent Barrel' Pavlichek and Brian 'Teacher's Wet Pet' Watson in June 1995.  There is also a small pack meeting in Grand Rapids.

Indiana

Indiana has a few large urban areas and a number of smaller industrial cities, giving a total population of about 6.3 million.  Hashes of particular interest include the IndyScent H3, which was founded by Matt 'Trojan Whore'  D'Onofrio in August 1999.  It is based in Indianapolis, the city noted for its racing track and its badge is a hash foot in the colours of the chequered race flag.  

EC H3 was founded in 1992 by, and largely for, students of Richmond’s Earlham College.  It claims to be the only all-student hash in the country, but don’t tell Gainesville Hash!

Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city is and Waukesha H3 the main kennel, dating from 1980 and usually running within the Milwaukee area.  Inter America’s Hash was held here in 1991.  Waukesha’s two big annual events are the Red Dress Run in May and the Pearl Harbour Run in December.  Madison H3 run in the state capital.

Illinois

Illinois is a large lake side state with Chicago as its main city.  There is an active hash community in the ‘Windy City’ and you can run somewhere in the region two or three times a week, more if you are willing to travel a little out of town.  

Chicago H3 was founded on 1st January 1977 and passed its 1000^th run in 2007. Second City H3 was founded by Jeff ‘EZ Sunday' Jones, Jim 'Soar Balls' Blomquist and Joel 'Full Term' Goldstein 1998.  It runs biweekly on Sundays, ’we hash throughout the Chicago metro area, often 30 miles or more from the city.’  There is also a Thirsty Thursday Hash running weekly, and now approaching 200 runs.  

Belleville, Evanston and Carbondale also have kneels.

Minnesota

Minnesota is the 12^th largest state in the USA with a population of 5 million people.  The best known town is Minneapolis which, along with nearby Saint Paul, makes up the 16^th largest metropolitan area in the nation.  

Minneapolis H3 was started in 1989 by Everett ‘Dr Who Gas’ Janssen.  The monthly St Paul H3 followed in 1993 and was founded by Forrest ‘Pooper Scooper’ Davis and Mark ‘Rex Tip’ McCaan.

Land o Lake H3 runs monthly but the La Cantina H3 appears to have folded shortly after being founded.

Iowa

Ames H3 was founded in September 1992.  It runs on Sundays or on special occasions.  Their main annual event is the pre-Thanksgiving Red Dress Run. Cedar Falls H3 began in 1992 but only meets twice a month.  Its motto is ‘We are truly the hash of dreams! If we lay it you will come.’ 

 Iowa H3 in Iowa City and North Iowa H3 in Mason City meet twice a month.

Missouri

Missouri lies in the centre of the nation, the biggest cities being St Louis and Kansas City. 

St Louis covers an enormous metro area and has three hashes.  St Louis H3 meets every Sunday with Big Hump Hash having the Wednesday evenings spot as well as the 2^nd and 4^th Saturday.  The third kennel is BellScott H3.  

West Plains Redneck H3 was founded in 2004 by Trent ’Big Mother Fucker’ Hawkins, ’We run whenever we can on Saturdays. We are very inexperienced. We are hoping to learn more.’

North Dakota

Dakota, in the middle of the USA, lacks international connections (i.e. military or diplomatic) and is therefore infertile ground for hashing.  Forks H3 and Minot H3 are now deceased and White Desert H3 only turns out every two weeks.

South Dakota

Big Heads H3 (the name comes from the Mount Rushmore statues, not their personalities) runs every second Friday but usually averages less than 20 runners.  ‘Hung Like a Centipede’ set 15 of the first 65 runs.  

Sioux Falls H3 (great name) no longer meets, but Bret Austin is willing to set a trail if any hashers are passing through.

Nebraska

Nebraska is one of the Great Plains states, with an economy based on agriculture.  Lincoln NE H3 and Omaha H3  alternate their Saturdays runs to avoid clashes.  A new addition to this relationship is the ‘Children of the Corn H3’ founded by ‘Once Over Easy’ and ‘Finger Wave’ in February 2006 as ‘there was a need for a family hash group to expose our future wankers to the wonders of hashing.’

Kansas

Kansas is Wizard of Oz country so of course we have the Tornado Alley H3, the Land of OZ Hash and the Yellow Brick Road Hash.  

Tornado Hash was founded in 1998 and has had its share of ‘anthrax’ scares’ and the recent Yellow Brick Road Hash (founded 2007) is of Korean ‘Taxi Ho’ and Luxembourg ‘Sitting Bull’ parentage.

Kansas City H3 dates from 1986 and was founded by ‘Fast Chug’, then a young hasher just arrived from San Diego.  Fast Chug and partner ‘Chihuahua’ are still running with the kennel.

The West

East to west

Montana

Montana is the 4^th biggest state in size, but with a population of less than a million people.  Big Sky H3 is based in Great Falls and was founded by Dennis ‘Squeals Like a Pig’ Bell and Stephanie ‘Frozen Moon’ Bean.  Hellgate H3 is based in Missoula and runs 2 or 3 times a month, apparently at random.

Wyoming

Wyoming is kind of just like Montana and there are a handful of hashes listed in places with cowboy names like Cheyenne and Laramie.  However this is not great hash territory and most struggle by with monthly runs and small packs.

Colorado Updated

Colorado is Rocky Mountain country and one of the most popular places to live in the States.  

Boulder and Denver are only 30 miles apart, close enough for hashers to run with both kennels and they set runs on alternate Saturdays to make that possible.  Denver H3 dates from 1982 when it was founded by Gene Fox. Boulder H3 came along 3 years later when Cindya and George ‘Birdman’ Scott arrived from Houston.  A lively and wild group their early achievements included rappelling down a rock face into the Coors Brewery compound (run no 11) and a run through a 100 metre irrigation tunnel with knee deep shiggy (run no 6).

Pike Peak H3 dates from summer 1988, when Ed ‘Surelee’ Hazelwood arrived from Atlanta.  He talked Peter Munding and Bill Slaughter into helping him lay the first trail and with visitors from Atlanta, Denver, and Boulder there was a reasonable first pack.

There are several other hashes in the state including Fort Collins H3 who will be staging the Colorado Invihashional in 2008.

Idaho

This is farm land with small towns and big fields.  Boise H3 is very active and celebrated 1000 runs in June 2007.  Palouse H3 comes from the rather strangely named town of Moscow Pullman and is a small but lively kennel.

Pocatello H3 was founded by ‘Docktor Lector’ in January 1998.  It runs on Sundays, meeting in the parking lot by the clock tower.  Treasure Valley H3 is a second and recent Boise hash, founded by Amanda 'Twatooie' De Shazo and Rick 'Puppy Love' Squires in October 2006.

Utah

Most of the population live in one great metropolitan area around Salt Lake City and this is where you find Wasatch H3. The kennel was founded in 1991 by Mark ‘Worthless’ Hardy and runs every other Saturday and every other Monday.  'Despite Utah's continued adherence to Prohibition and the highest concentration of conservative religious communities, the Hash has managed to survive and thrive as a place for less conservative folks to relax for a bit and enjoy a Beer with their friends.'  One advantage of hashing here is the scenery, check out the photos on their website.

Washington

The centre of hashing is based around Puget Sound, the large inlet that includes the Seattle metropolitan area and is home to about 4 million people.  There are six hashes in the region, all loosely united under the title Western Washington H3 that provides a common website.  Seattle, Tacoma and Puget Sound run twice monthly and No Balls and Rain City monthly.  The sixth hash is a Full Moon kennel.

Puget Sound is the oldest of these kennels, being founded in 1981 by Bill ‘Groper’ Goelzer who had learnt his hashing in Tehran.  It remains a men's only kennel.  Rather than sue them, the women simply founded the No Balls Hash, a Harriettes only run on the last Wednesday night of each month. The Harriettes also host the annual Cross Dress Run in autumn.  

Seattle H3 (founded 1983 out of Puget Sound H3) is a mixed hash.

Oregon

Oregon H3 was founded on 17 May 1987 and its  first run, which took the pack through woods, poison oak thickets, beds of nettles, streams, railway tracks and a stretch of Interstate 5, is still a legend,  ‘of three hounds that lost their way, one was rescued’.  ‘Wrong Way’ Corrigan was the hare.  

Today the hash depends on Rogue ‘Oregon’s best micro brewed beers and ales’ for strength.  

Oregon (Saleem) H3 followed shortly afterwards and Ashland H3 the following year.

 Portland Humpin’ H3 first ran was January 2001. ‘Wildman’ is a legend here and will be over 200 runs by the time you read this.  Kahuna H3 runs on Monday and is a Portland based hash with less beer being drunk, this being a week day, but ‘we strive for precious shiggy’.  ‘Wildman’ is again the run leader.

Nevada

Las Vegas H3 was founded in 2002 by ‘Destiny’, ‘Fate’ and ’Lots of Beer’.  The kennel was in fact an amalgamation of four previous packs, LA Resurrection H3, Viva Las Vegas, Rat Pack and Sin City Full Moon Hashes.  They are a friendly bunch with a visitor’s helpline.  

Reno ‘Bump ‘n’ Hump Hash has been hashing in the greater northern Nevada area since 1996.  The RAT Pack lives on as a travelling hash.

California

The west coast is something else.  A state with a population approaching 38 million (if it was a country it would rank 35^th in the world) and eight of its cities rank amongst the 50 biggest in the States.  

However it is also a big place with great natural beauty and one of the world’s great centres of hashing.  (Could that be why so many people want to live there?)  

La Jolla H3 was founded by Joe Curray in 1978 and is proud of being the state’s oldest hash.  Los Angeles H3 was founded just before Christmas 1980 by Larry ‘Webfoot’ Jones and another former Singapore hasher, Bernard Daniels.  Thirty turned out for the first run, thanks partly to support from La Jolla.  Their first t-shirt was issued in 1981 and was significant as the colour blue became adopted as the official LAH3 colour.  

By 1982 there was enough support to switch to weekly runs and the same year the kennel set the standard for tough events with a weekend trip to Death Valley.  

Attempts to stage an official Olympic hash in 1984 were defeated by the 2000 dollar fee, but an unofficial Olympic Hash went ahead.  

In 1990 anther great character of the early days, Madman stepped up for a spell as GM.  

The adventurous side of the kennel is still apparent and their 1000^th run in 2000 left from a venue so steep that the bus couldn’t reach it.  Around 1999 it became a common practise for Harriettes to pass on their down downs to the RA in return for flashing their boobs (This is California after all).  

To the north, San Francisco is a liveable city noted for its gay culture and lots of hills.  Robbie ‘Pussy-Whipped’ Cook is a local legend. He returned from Kuala Lumpur to found East Bay Devils H3 in 1979 and San Francesco H3 in 1982.  The latter, with their Golden Gate Bridge emblem and large pack is one of the great US hashes. 

Way down south on the edge of Mexico you find San Diego H3 which was founded in February 1981 and is home of the original Red Dress Run.  They are one of 14 hashes in the area. The fact that San Diego started up later and reached its 1000^th run earlier is still a contentious issue in LA Hash circles.

The Chiang Mai directory listed 44 California hashes, but who’s counting?

Outposts

Alaska

Hashing in Alaska is somewhat low key, as you might expect for a place on the edge of an Arctic wilderness.  Anchorage is the biggest city, but there wasn’t a hash here until May 1995.  The Anchorage Alaska H3 has a mixed pack that runs through the year, which takes some doing in this part of the world.

 The Frozen Chozen H3 is a small but active group based at North Pole. ‘North Pole’ in this case is the name of a village, not the top of the world, but still it is pretty far north. Run number one took place in May 1991 with one local and seven visiting Koreans and it was minus 22 degrees.  The temperature record for a run now stands at minus 44 degrees at the start and minus 50 degrees at the end.  

The capital of Alaska is actually Juneau H3 and the local hash (founded 1995) met spasmodically at first, but since 2003 has been running every week.

Hawaii

Hawaii lies 2,300 miles from the US mainland and consists of eight main islands. The capital, commercial and hashing centre is the islands of Aloha. Hashing came here early, with founding of Honolulu H3 in 1978. They get packs of around 40 plus for their Tuesday evenings runs and there are steady stream of visitors passing through.  

This is serious jogging country, so to help maintain hash standards Honolulu H3 punishes any wearer of T shirts with the words ‘marathon’ or’ race’. 

Famous incidents include accidentally running across a military base during manoeuvres (the military were doing manoeuvres, not the hashers) and Mountain Mary getting lost and staying out on trial all night.  

On another memorial occasion, the pack caught a live hare and, as convention demanded, debagged him, only to find they had actually assaulted an innocent jogger.

There seems to be a fair number of doctors on the hash and ‘Chest Checker’, a lung expert, is a veteran who has been running with the pack since 1979. 

     Aloha H3 run year-round on Saturday afternoons. It is a mixed hash with an average pack size of 50 to 70. ‘On the first Saturday of every month we strive to have a strollerable (is that a word?) family trail in addition to our regular trail.’  

Also running on the island is the Oahu Pickup H3 They meet every first Thursday of the month.  A hare is chosen by playing Jun Ken Po (Paper/scissors/rock) and off they set. If caught the ‘snagger’ becomes the new hare with a 3-minute start. It is traditional that the last hare selects the location for the next hash.  

Life's a Beach, It's Awesome H-3 (LABIA) also runs on the island. They usually meet every other Sunday afternoons for a short A to A run followed by ‘mellow times on the beach, pack size around 20, mixed with children. Bring your own beer and grillables for after the run.’

     Across on Maui you will find a mixed hash, meeting once a month, usually on the last Saturday. Further along the chain is Big Island. This is a great place, half the island is a volcanic World Heritage National Park. The local hash is Kona Coast H3, a mixed group of about 30, who stage a monthly Saturday afternoon run.