Independence Hash

I survived another Hash Run, the Independence Day Hash, here in St. Kitts!

Preparing for the hash.

Check out all the red, green, black, and yellow outfits.

If you're wondering what the heck a hash run is, don't feel like you're the only one who doesn't know. Before I came to St. Kitts I wondered the same thing and had to research the tradition myself. I was not surprised to find out the tradition was started by the British. Who else would conceive of an idea so wacky, sarcastic, contradictory, and most of all fun? But before any of you Brits bristle at my words, know that I can poke fun because my heritage points back to the rainy isle too!

The hash tradition began in the 1930s in Malaysia, when British troops began organized fun runs that were reminiscent of a British school game where a hound chased a hare on various trails. After running the course, the participants indulged in beer, ginger beer, and cigarettes, which suited the British right well.

The amusing original rules of the Hash House Harriers in Malaysia in 1938 can be found at Go to the Hash.net:

• to promote physical fitness among our members
• to get rid of weekend hangovers
• to acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer
• to persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel                

Original Hare and Hound running in England in the 1870s.
Photo credit: hash.net

My first St. Kitts Hash House Harriers experience was three days after we arrived on the island. The run took place just above Monkey Hill in the countryside. The view was awesome, but boy did I sweat! We ran a long way over some steep and challenging terrain.

The view from the top of monkey hill on my first hash

This weekend's hash, number 291, was held in Beacon Heights, which is just north of Basseterre near the paint ball field. This hash drew more of a crowd than the last one, probably because Ross's classes are back in session.

The participants split into two groups, the runners and the hikers. Of course I was in the running group. The hiking group was a lot larger than it was on my first hash. We headed straight up the hill into the grassy rural part of St. Kitts, where farmers raise cows and goats and the houses are spread apart, unlike in Basseterre. This is the type of land I'm used to.

Our group headed up the side of the hill

I mentioned to Julie probably more times than she wished to hear that this would be the type of area I'd want to have a house if we did decide to stay in St. Kitts long term. Check it out! There are even cows up there. They're on chains, but it was still neat to see them. Undoubtedly they are a Brahma cross.

Brahma eared cow

Why are these strange humans running through my pasture?

We eventually all made it to the top after stopping several times to wait for everyone at the trail checkpoints, and boy, was it worth the view!

View from the top of Beacon Heights looking southeast over Basseterre.

Another View from the same area. Nevis is in the background.

Too bad someone had already stolen my idea of building a place to live up there. Damn!

Future home?

That's fine. There is plenty of other land on St. Kitts for me to explore and maybe someday to build on.

At that point we headed back down the hill and after around 45 minutes of running in 90 degree heat, we were back at our starting location. But the story doesn't end there and neither does the hash. It was time for some food, drinks, and of course initiating the virgin runners, along with other hashing traditions.

The first order of business was the voting of the best Independence Day costume. This was decided by who received the most cheers from the audience. There were quite a few unique costumes:

Creative Costumes

I thought this chap had quite the costume too, and I liked his sunglasses:

After the winner was declared, the virgins were initiated by a beer baptism, a chugged beer, and a shower of foam by the laughing spectators, who probably remember how embarrassing their first hash was.

Virgins being baptized by beer

The only situation worse than being initiated after your first hash would be being singled out for wearing new shoes on a hash. Apparently those crazy Brits wrote something about this in their rules. The unknowing new shoe wearer this time happened to be a Brit herself.

Amy had just arrived in St. Kitts three days earlier and somehow hadn't done any hash runs in the United Kingdom. Not only was she initiated by a beer bath, but the hash leader filled her new shoe with beer and made her drink out of it. Thankfully Amy told me that she wasn't put off because Brits have no problem drinking beer, regardless of where it comes from.

 

Amy on the left getting ready to down her shoe full of beer.

The next run will be held on October 6th, when the hashers will run the Children's Home 5k charity event along with other more serious runners. Be there, because it just happens to be my birthday.

And if you're shy about coming to a hash, don't be. Contrary to what it may sound like, you don't have to drink or even run to participate. It's a great way to see parts of the island you'll otherwise miss, and you'll meet some great friends.  If you are interested in doing a hash run in St. Kitts, check the Island Babble calendar for upcoming events or the St. Kitts Hash House Harriers facebook page. 

Happy Hashing. On On!

Me on the hash trail

Hashing in Nevis

Another fun day in Nevis yesterday, with another group of goofballs. This time we boarded the Irie Lime for a sail over to Nevis with about 70 hashers. We were supposed to meet at 12:30 and leave by 1....Mr. X called at 12:20 and said he had just woken up and was on his way. Apparently he takes longer to get ready than I do, because he didn't show until about quarter after 1. Wearing this...I thanked him for wearing underwear.



Here's the thing, I have pictures of him wearing these shorts that go back 14 years...and I think they go back even farther than that. Scary.

Dame Carl(a) left the boat for some reason and didn't come back until after 1:30. Can you say island time? Finally we took off and Michael & I were quite happy to have taken some sea-sickness pills. Four others would wish they had....



Look who's already at the bar.

Once underway Jail Bait and Bull Bait were happy to serve up some beverages.

I couldn't believe people were drinking before the hike, but then I remembered the Hash House Harriers' motto is that we're "drinkers with a running problem," so was this really that surprising? The ride wasn't that bad, but it was swelly enough on the way over that I made sure I stayed in the front and in the wind. And then we were there.

It turns out the hares didn't actually mark the trail, which meant it would be a live hash. Meaning the hounds have to stick with the hares or risk losing them. This bunch is a really hard group to keep together in the best of conditions, so this concept didn't exactly work. A few hashers took off for Culturama events, stopped at bars along the way, or were just plain slow, so our walking hare had to keep going back to look for them, which left those of us in the front without any guidance. We followed some general instructions and just kind of made it up as we went along. It wasn't the most scenic hash we've ever done, so I didn't take that many photos (and Michael's brand new camera still isn't working - first it wouldn't stay on, now it has the white screen of death...Panasonic says to send it in...grrrr).

We enjoyed a little greenery with some peek-a-boo moments.



At one point, orange petals from the Flamboyant tree carpeted the trail - how romantic.

We went past the new, pretty performing arts center,

through neighborhoods with cute, tiny little houses,



into town and onto the rocky coastline,

before reaching Pinney's beach and plodding back toward the starting point.

Even the runners got a bit lost, but eventually pulled it together, passing us (Mr. X on the hare's tail).

Time to lime.



The usual ceremonies were held afterwards, with a # of people getting called out, including this one for being a little too funkadelic.

And these two who did a down-down first. They don't do beer, only hard liquor. No problem - here are some shots then. Down the hatch!



That had to be the shortest guzzle ever - we didn't even get to sing "Why are we waiting....?"

The last one was a nasty one for the 4 who went to Culturama events and then came back in a vehicle, no less. Even the man who gave them a lift, and who was not a hasher, was down on the ground (far left).

We truly are nuts. I think it's time to get our butts back on the boat and let Nevis return to its quiet self.



The trip back was a hoot with some Michael Jackson action,

some pole dancing (always scary),



and lots of group dancing, like the Macarena, Follow de Leader (which turned into a conga line - Hands up!!), the Dollar Wine, and a bunch of others. Soca too.

Hey - is that Michael behind the bar again? I think he's found his new career.



Speaking of which, we will be making a decision tomorrow (Monday) on what we're doing, so the suspense will soon be over. We're savoring every moment. We've got lots of beach time coming up with a two-day holiday upon us, and since TS Florence looks like it'll go north of here, we'll avoid any weather-related drama in the short-term. On! On!