The ON IN is something that I have seen at many different Hashes around the world. It isn't universally used but it is used at enough places that it is kind of important that you know what it means. It almost certainly will not be explained to you and this is a trick that is all meant in good fun. New members will almost certainly violate the rule they are unaware even exists and the punishment is only meant to help them to become a more active member of the group and meet people in the process.
The deal with the ON IN is that this indicates that your run or walk or jog is nearly over. The camp, to speak, is just up ahead, normally within 500 meters or less. This is officially the end of the race, if you decided to treat the jungle trek as a race.
There have been many people that have ended up burned by not knowing the rule that exists from this point forward.
Once you cross the ON IN, you, if you are one of the firsts to encounter it, you are supposed to shout out ON IN! so that the others behind you can get one last sprint in if they are trying to finish before whoever they are walking or running with.
Once you cross the threshold of the ON IN writing you are supposed to maintain the order that you are in and not pass anyone.
There is no real reason for this rule to exist other than us continuing to be silly and because it is a tradition that has been a part of the Hash House Harriers for around 100 years.
Anyone that is in front of you is to remain in front of you all the way back to the camp. If you want to pass someone you have to ask permission to do so. If they say no, you have to stay behind them. Veteran members of the crew will set up newbies by stopping to tie their shoes and then the person will inevitably pass them. This results in this "violation" being pointed out to the other members at the circle, and the violator learns a lesson that they will not forget ever again.
I fell victim to this on my very first run and i was all smiles when they put me on the ice for it. I obviously had no idea what it was all about because it was my very first Hash. The point of having this is to give people a reason to put people on the ice so that they can say their name and basically introduce them to everyone in attendance. It is not meant to insult anyone or to single them out for bullying and if someone ever saw it as such they should probably not pursue being a Hasher because there are far worse trick in the Hash House Harriers. It depends on where you are in the world how serious all of this stuff will pretend to be taken.
The "rules" vary from place to place because there are no rules in the Hash, only traditions and suggestions. However, here in Chiang Mai if you are side-by-side with someone when you cross the ON IN, you are to remain side-by-side until you arrive back at camp. This method is used to entrap people who have been Hashing for a while and think they already know what the ON IN stands for. This trick was used on me and I laughed a lot about that. When people decide to single you out for a violation, this is just our way of saying that you are "one of us" and we accept you.
The Hash House Harriers does a wonderful job of pulling people out of their shells and encouraging people to be more social and really, I think that is one of my favorite things about being a long-term HHH member.
We are still doing at least 3 runs per week here in Chiang Mai and if you want details on all upcoming runs they can be found here
