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The Hash House Harriers are the original "drinking club with a running problem." The group, also known as H3, was founded in Kuala Lumpur in 1937, and now there are chapters all over the world.
On Saturday, the Tampa Bay "kennel" will celebrate its 800th event, or "hash."
"The idea is to try to catch the hare (lead runner), but most of the time you don't. They're laying trails so that you go the wrong way," said Lynda Smith of Westchase, spokeswoman of the local kennel, TBH3.
Every other Saturday and on full moons, the Tampa Bay hashers meet up for tailgate-style fun. After an hour of carousing, the week's hare takes off, marking a 3- to 5-mile trail with white flour for the other runners ("hounds") to follow. Once the hare has a 10-minute head start, the hounds follow the flour in search of the unknown finish line. When everyone completes the 3- to 5-mile course, the hashers sing cheeky songs like Breathalyzed (to the tune of Yesterday) and Durex is a Girl's Best Friend. Then everyone heads to a bar.
"We have a good time," said Smith, 39, whose hashing nickname, Semper Bi, refers to her time as a Marine. "It's all about hanging out with people that you enjoy hanging out with, getting away from the daily life, getting out and exercising and enjoying some beer."
For the milestone event, TBH3 is teaming up with the local bicycling pub-crawl group Tour de Trail for a trek through Dunedin. The group will visit about six bars. TBH3 began in 1988, running through neighborhoods and parks all over Tampa Bay.
"We do go into some neighborhoods that you wouldn't want to go through alone, but that just makes it fun," Smith said.
TBH3 has several hundred members. About 40 show up for any given event. Some are serious runners. Others, like Smith, walk the trail. Some hashers bring their teenagers or babies in strollers to the non-bar events.
Many also participate in Four Green Fields Running Club, Tampa Bay's other "bunch of drinkers with a running problem."
"They took that from us," Smith said good-naturedly.
But the cool thing is the instant camaraderie with other hashers.
"Anywhere you go in the world, if you look on (H3 website) half-mind.com," Smith said, "you would have someplace to stay like I've never seen before — and I'm former military."
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