So we did it. We woke up gathered our plates and utensils and set out for a Hash. Of course, neither Amy nor I had any idea what a hash was, but we were pleasantly surprised with our findings. In short, a hash is race that is typically organized by expats and the participants of the race do not know what the exact path of the run (click here to learn more about the history of how hashing got started). Before we started we got a brief introduction of the rules, which were you run until you find the first marker and by marker they mean a small pile of flour and/or a chalk arrow. You have to follow the piles of flour and chalk arrows until you come to a checkpoint. At each checkpoint you have to run in various directions until you find the next marker, and then you yell something out so that the other runners know that you found the path (I didn't quite catch what they were telling us to yell). At one of the checkpoints you had to wait until 7 women arrived- you will be happy to know that Amy and I were in the top 7 women- so all of us women set out in different directions to find the next marker. Of course, my direction was where the marker was, but I completely missed it and the person who constructed the course told me to go back and look harder. Alas, it was there. Once the marker is found you leave a marking at the checkpoint so that all the runners behind you know which direction they are supposed to go. There was one more checkpoint after the women's one and then shortly after that checkpoint we had to choose whether we wanted to be Macho or Wimpy. Amy, who never runs and had been running the entire 5k chose the wimp path, so in total she prob ran 7k! Way to go Amy! I chose the Macho path, which was in total around 11k- for someone who hasn't ran since March, I did fairly well, but I did walk in the last 2k or so. Of course I chose to walk because I wanted to be social and talk to the other expats (not because I was dead tired). This one Irish guy, Liam, had run in 20 marathons all over the world, it was awesome to hear his stories. He had also been hashing for about 15 years or so. Every time he goes to a city he looks for hash runs, apparently it is a great way to meet people and get to know different cultures.
After the race, they have a traditions where they get in a circle and sing songs , chug beers, and hand out awards to those who have run 10 races, 150 races, etc. We were not aware that they made the hash virgins go into the middle of the circle, too. Once we were in the circle we had to say our name, where we were from, our marital status, and how we heard of the hash run. (Apparently, it is sort of like a secret society, but not really because we learned of it through one the girls that runs our school.) Anyway, after we introduced ourselves we had to chug our beers. We were told that the first person to finish chugging their beer won a prize. Neither Amy nor I won the contest, but our friend, Melissa, did- and she won another beer. I was releived to lose that competition, because as we all know I cannot chug a beer to save my life. After the "awards ceremony" we went for a lunch, which included grilled pizzas and ice cream cones filled with dulce de leche. Muy rico! Ame and I had great fun and we are even thinking of making this a regular thing....apparently they run every other Sunday. (Mayen, you might need to bring your running shoes.) And one sweet Argentine women assured me that there are usually a lot more younger men who run the hashes, they just weren't there this particular Sunday...
Happy to be back in the virtual world!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
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Sounds like so much fun !!! Glad to see you are up and running. Love you
ReplyDeleteIt really sounds like a great way to meet people! You are both terrific!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great time!! boy oh boy in my day hash meant something totally different!! Glad its a healthy thing now..LOL
ReplyDeleteI am SO excited. I'll start training now...both running and chugging.
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