Turning to other activities, Adam and Eve forgot about this enjoyable past time and for thousands of years (Noah's flash flood didn't help either) it lay dormant.

A. S. Gispert, a soldier with the Argylls, grew tired of shooting coconuts out of trees so went walking through the jungle where he found ancient scriptures hidden in a cave.
Bored with reading this crap, Gispert and some of his mates who were familiar with the Harrier clubs in Malacca and Ipoh, decided to go jogging in the jungle by following a trail of paper until they reached their starting point.

Gispert being a devious sort of bloke decided to play a trick on his mates and layed down some false trails, but his keen jogging mates realised something was amiss and searched until they found the correct way home. The bloke running in front called to the others come On, On up this path. Hence the beginnings of joggers jargon - On On was to become the cry for joggers to keep on trail. Other unforgettable gems such as On Trail, On Back, Aye U, On Home & Checking, found there way into the vocabulary of Hashers.

At the end of the run, everyone met back at the local Chinese take-away which was called the Hash House where they formed a circle and handed out charges for being too competitive, being a short cutter and for anything else worthy of sculling a beer. With the serious side of the evening completed, the joggers then settled down for Nosh (food) and generally got pissed.

The Hash House Harriers were born.

The year was 1938 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where A S Gispert, Cecil Lee, Horse Thomson, Torch Bennett, Eric Galvin and H M Doig started a tradition that has spawned from the KL Mother Hash to all points of the globe. This intrepid group were joined soon after by Frank Woodward, Philip Wickens, Lew Davidson, John Wyatt-Smith and M C Hay

Sadly Gispert was killed in action against the Japanese on 11th February 1942, thus denying him the opportunity to experience his vision of a global group of piss heads who enjoy running.

In 1974 there were only 35 clubs world wide but by 1992 this had exploded to 1,100 in over 135 countries

The Selangor Club (KL), circa 1938, nicknamed 'The Hash House' by British Civil Servants. 1964 was the year of sacrilege when the building was bull-dozed to make way for a new highway, although the original stables and servants quarters still stand.

The first South Australian Hash House was started in Adelaide by Brian Haddy in December 1977. This gave rise to the popular Adelaide Hash House Harriettes in 1980 (so the wives and girlfriends couldn't winge about the blokes having a good time) followed by Munno Para, Adelaide Hills, Riverland, Full Moon and other now defunct groups.

Cum and join in the fun and meet some of the inaugural old timers - yes that's right, they're still running although a little slower, greyer and generally well preserved (pickled).

Check out the club pages for contacts and run information.

The cumming events page highlites major runs and sometimes gives detailed information.

Accurately recorded by Booga as told by everyone who reckons they know the truth