singapore hash house harriers

i have known of the existence of hash house harriers but was not aware of the extent of their activities until i came across a group of them at jalan kampong chantek on wednesday evening. the group was about 30 strong, with the majority being women. quite a number of them arrived at the meeting point in taxis. the rest drove and parked their cars on the grass or by the side of the road outside the murnane reservoir.

found out that the group was the singapore hash house harriets. they hold their runs on a weekly basis, every wednesday, starting at 6.00 p.m. the venus is not made known until a few days before the run. a run organised by this group is always led by a woman.

on thursday, saw another group - the kampong hash house harriers - gathered at the stagmont camp heavy vehicle carpark for their run. although it is a different group, you see some of the same people - those seen on wednesday - at the run.

there are at least seven groups of harriers in singapore with each group holding their respective run on a fixed day of the week. every day of the week, there is at least one run organised by a hash house harrier group. there is even one for dogs known as the k9 hhh and one for kids called the hhhorrors. the kids usually have their run on alternate sundays.

in every hhh run, there is a hare or two - who gets a headstart - to mark the trail, using bits of paper, chalk or flour. the rest are the hounds. i suspect that, for the majority, the best part of the run is at the end where they guzzle beer, gorge on food and indulge in crazy antics.