About Us
A social club with a running problem
The hash house harriers is an international running group that blends socializing with being active. Our events (AKA - Trails) are designed to be accessible to people with all activity levels ranging from walkers to experienced runners.
How it works
The people who attend our events are referred to as “The Hounds” and the person organizing the event is referred to as “The Hare”. The hound and hare terminology stems from the original founding of the Hash House Harriers in 1938 in Kuala Lumpur. A bunch of deployed brits got together to play a paper chase game (AKA Hare and the Hounds) and I guess we all got addicted to running through the woods and finding the hidden gems in life - under bridges, in abandoned buildings, and in hidden gem dive bars.
Anyone can be a hare, and, as the, hare they direct where the hounds (AKA - the pack) goes. If you know a cool place hidden away in Pittsburgh, have a favorite bar you want everyone to support, or want to support our hashing community, then consider signing up to hare one of our hashing or running events!
A Pittsburgh cultural phenomenon
The Pittsburgh HHH was founded 1980 by Jay “Cap’t Lewd” Gore. Our first Run was June 14, 1980 and subsequent Hashes were held every other week. Our community grew significantly over the past several decades and we now hash weekly.
Along with the growth of our community, many different hashing sub-groups (or kennels) were formed. Iron City Hash House Harriers is one of those kennels.
What makes us different
We do not have set running routes with specified distances. Instead, we have people in our community volunteer to mark a trail. This is typically done using baking flour that has been thrown on the ground or smacked against trees. There is a puzzle component to these trails - certain flour markings indicate the true trail must be found from the possible paths nearby.
Consequently, faster runners reach these marks first and help the slower runners and walkers by finding the correct path. If a trail is well-laid, walkers and runners finish within 10-20 mins of each other.
Our routes aim to showcase parts of Pittsburgh that you wouldn’t ordinarily go to - think of it as getting lost with purpose
Things you may see on trail:
