I normally post about all of our wonderful sprawling wilderness runs and I am sure that makes some of the people in our more urban groups a bit jealous. It isn't possible for a lot of people particularly our brethren in places like New York City. This doesn't mean that they are not going to Hash though and they are actually one of the more active communities on the planet. I suspect the fact that 18 million people live there has something to do with it.
They have a very creative logo, they have a massive following, and to top that off they have one of the most humorous and informative websites about Hashing in existence. We have 3 groups here in Chiang Mai known as "kennels," The NYC group has 10 and they are all over the city. Although I have only run with them once when visiting Brooklyn a few years ago, it was made known to me that they frequently travel to the other parts of the city in order to hang out with other people and Hash with a new group of folks. Talk about a great way to meet some people in the big city!
There's a relatively famous statue in the background ther
The "Hash" was established in 1984 and they have been running strong and expanding ever since. While they don't have a great deal of nature to contend with on their runs they are able to mix it up by going through streets neighborhoods, alleyways, and probably turn some heads as a group of people all wearing silly clothes go running past in a big group and shouting "on on!" in the middle of the street. So far no one has been beaten up or arrested as far as I know.
Many of their events take place at night, which is smart since we presume most people have jobs and it is really hot in the day especially in a place that isn't going to have much shade other than the shadows of the tall buildings and believe it or not, outside of Manhattan, NYC doesn't have those just all over the place!
They are extremely organized and even have a hotline that spells out something Hashy in the phone number (HASH-NYC)... how cool is that. I've been told they actually answer the damn phone too which is a big improvement over what we do over here since the average age is 127 in Chiang Mai and none of us have figured out how to unlock our phones let alone set up a hotline.
The thing that really blows my mind is that even though NYC is one of the more expensive places to be in the world, regular Hashes are only $20 per go and this includes pizza and beer afterwards. I don't think a visitor would be able to get pizza and tons of beer for $20 even without the run included.
So if you are in NYC, and it is my understanding that a few people live there, then you do not have an excuse to not be participating in this. One of the common comments answered in their FAQ is
Q: I sweat like a pig, even worse when I r*n. Will this be a problem?
A: So do we. Your small bag of dry clothes will be transported by the Hare to the On In.
Get on out there and make it happen folks!
