Ever since I started running “professionally” I would hear whispers of a certain subculture of running, one that involved booze, tawdry nicknames and running in dresses, red ones at that, worn by men. Redhead mentioned that she had heard of this underground running cult as well.

Although we are fond of both running and boozing, we were perplexed by the concept of putting the two together.

Upon further investigation I found out this subculture is called hashing. While it’s not as secretive as I thought, the hash groups can be pretty selective on who they let in.

So, The Redhead and I have decided to go into the seedy underbelly of hashing. You know, find out what makes it tick. Yup, just call us Cagney & Lacey.

These hashers all have nicknames chosen for them based on personality traits, quirks, or random events. For example I know of one in the area known as Fist Deep. And another known as Smells Like Fish. Hm. Do the Redhead and I really want to subject our delicate sensibilities to people like this? Of course we do:

This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2009.