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Helsinki Hash House Harriers, the original and genuine, was conceived by two
veteran hashers, Dirty Old Man (alias Ulf Burmeister) and Osmo Jalovaara
over a presumably wet lunch in spring 1977. After a short pregnancy a
well-developed Hash baby was born on May 18, 1977. We believe we are the third
oldest Hash in Europe.
The first run was hared by our, still in good standing, since then Grand
Master, Dirty Old Man. We were 13 Hashers including one more with
previous hashing experience, Screw My Bike
(alias Juhani Vänskä). As he was serving his military duty at the
time Hashing offered a good excuse for an evening leave. The initial bunch
included some wankers that later turned out as no shows but also true believers
that liked it so much they will rather leave their wife than Hashing.
Emerging as a males-only type of Hash it does not imply any sexual
preferences. Thus the Helsinki Hash now includes some devoted females and our
reputation has attracted several overseas female guest runners, all of which
have left very satisfied and sworn to be back for more some day.
It turned out that Hash seedling had fallen in fertile soil as we have been
hashing since then every week almost without interruptions. We say that if
Christmas happens to be on Monday we move Christmas to Tuesday as Hash is on
Monday. Weather is no hindrance as our -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees
Fahrenheit) runs testify. Helsinki Hash House Harriers has also cloned itself
as it was parenting the birth of Turku Hash and the first ever Balltick Hash in
Tallinn, Estonia. In June 2001 we co-hosted the Interscandic Hash with some 80
zealous hashers attending. Yearly Out of Town and occasional Out of Country runs
are Helsinki Hash innovations. Particularly Out of Country runs have been
(im)memorable as they have been first class (no wives) trips. And we have not
lost any hasher on those runs, yet. Only minor casualties.
Our celebrative runs, such as the 500th and 1000th also
turned out to be great successes and our 25th anniversary was held on
May 18, 2002.
Being no totally non-competitive we claim to be athletes but the last resort
of real sportsmen. We invite all devoted Hashers to join us any Monday at 5.30
pm for an exotic experience.
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