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Saipan Hash House Harriers donates $866 to Karidat
The Saipan Hash House Harriers donated $866 to Karidat following their Red Dress/Lingerie Run on Feb. 11, 2017.
The Hash House Harriers or “Hashing” originated in December 1938 in Selayang Quarry, in Malaysia, when a group of British colonial officers and expatriates began meeting on Monday evenings to run, in a fashion patterned after the traditional British paper chase or “share and hounds,” to rid themselves of the excesses of the previous weekend. The Saipan club runs on Saturdays.
At present, there are almost 2,000 chapters in all parts of the world, and the Saipan Hash House Harriers started on Dec. 14, 1984. As of 2003, there are even two organized chapters operating in Antarctica.
The Hash House Harriers qualifies as the world’s largest running club. Despite their size and having been founded in 1938, the Red Dress Run may be the only completely original idea they have ever had. And it happened nearly by accident. On Aug. 7, 1987, a young lady wearing a red dress emerged from an airplane that had landed in southern California to visit a friend from her high school years. Shortly thereafter, she found herself transported to Long Beach, where her friend intended to introduce her to a zany running group called the “Hash House Harriers.” One member, noting her gender and attire, urged that she “just wait in the truck” until her host returned. With that goading, she ran into history sporting her red dress and heels. The tradition of the Hash House Harriers Red Dress Run quickly spread to every corner of the globe, including Beijing, Montreal, Ho Chi Minh City, Helsinki, Moscow, Tokyo, Washington, D.C., Hobart (Australia), and Saipan.
Over the years, the Red Dress Run has been very successful in raising millions of dollars for a wide variety of local charities.
This year the Saipan Hash House Harriers elected Karidat to be the beneficiary of their Red Dress/Lingerie Run, which is run on the Saturday closest to Valentine’s Day in February.
