2008 Tour duh Hash

As the sun sets on the 2008 Tour duh Hash, we few runners to complete the entire event are tired. As with anytime groups are faced with adversity, relationships become a little deeper and more intense in nature. For those of us who are done with it, we can take pride in our accomplishment. Our legs are worn; covered in cuts, scratches, poison ivy, and mud. Our stomachs, while looking flatter and more toned, reject the very whim of drinking more beer. It is in our hearts and minds where we have gained the most though. The 34 runners who completed all 9 stages of the tour will be inexorably linked by the ordeal. It makes one appreciate the savage difficulty of a truly grueling event or tour, like the Tour de France. Over the last 10 days, we have been led through all four corners of the DC metro area; through streams and ponds and flood plains; through chest high saw-grass and rampant poison ivy; up hills and through tunnels filled with shoe sucking mud. We have seen a little bit of everything over the course of ~45 miles of shiggy-filled trails.

During the tour, I was poignantly reminded of why I enjoy the hash. It’s than promoting fitness among members, working up a thirst through running, and satisfying that thirst in beer. It’s more than just a social outlet. While I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest that our thing is a way of life, it could be described as a philosophy in a relative sense. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you do, or where you’re from when at the hash. No one really cares anyway. We have doctors, lawyers, military officers, cancer researchers, capitol hill workers, etc; all the way down the other side of the spectrum. And you know what? It just doesn’t matter. Like Bill Murray’s “It just doesn’t matter” speech in the movie Meatballs; it simply doesn’t. What does matter to this special group of people is much less obvious and many times more ambiguous. Generally speaking, a good sense of humor and the ability to not take one’s self too seriously are among the main criteria for maximum enjoyment of the hash. Everything else is just icing. Cheers to everyone that finished the tour and best of luck until next year!