Hash House Harriers' cross-dressing football match back Boxing Day

If you’ve ever driven around the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain on Boxing Day and noticed a bunch of men in dresses or women in pants and drawn-on moustaches, all playing football, you may also have noticed they have not been around for the last two years.

But this year, the Port of Spain Hash House Harriers (POSH3) annual Boxing Day Cross-Dressing Football Match is back after being postponed because of the pandemic.

Former hash master Martin Griffith told Sunday Newsday members and their friends and family are invited to play, from 3 pm, but anyone could watch. The group, he stressed, is all about fun.

He explained that members of the POSH3 had heard about a group who played a football match in old clothes on Old Years Day. In 1990, they wanted to do something similar on Boxing Day but they did not want to wear old clothes. Someone suggested they cross-dress and everyone thought it was a fun idea, so the tradition was born.

“By and large, the people who stay around us tend to be of similar mind. While some of us may have our beliefs around the LGBTQIA community, that never came into play as far as the game is concerned. That’s never been a topic of discussion when it comes to football.

“Members like to be out there. Anything for a lime and the consumption of some beverages. We are just a fun-loving group of people. Status and position of life is of no concern because we have people from all walks of life and all sectors of the society. So the football is just an excuse to come out and have some fun.”

He said members are excited and enthusiastic about restarting the tradition, as there is a lot of banter and joking in the various WhatsApp groups about sales and the purchasing of designer dresses.

Griffith, 63, describes hashing organisations, as drinking clubs with a running problem.

POSH3 is very informal with no official members, membership fees, meetings, or official organisational structure. He said if a person hears about a run and they want to show up, they can, and they can leave whenever they want. And while running is paramount, there is no racing, timing, or winning involved.

At the same time, its events are very organised.

Griffith explained that the POSH3 was formed in 1984 when some expats decided to start a hash group in Trinidad. On February 4, 1984, they and some local friends met in the Caura Valley and Englishman Peter Frearson explained what hashing was about.

Using flour, “hares” would mark trails, one correct and several false, for the pack of “harriers” to follow to get to some location usually known only to the hares. At that destination, the drinking and liming would begin.

Griffith said he joined the group in 1990 and those of his generation are much older now, and so have started passing the baton to the younger people. He said the biggest change in the group since then, was the brand of alcohol the members drink.

“When we started off, it was Carib, then Stag was introduced. With the introduction of the breathalyser, people stared drinking more pilsner, which is much lighter. What that also encouraged was more carpooling with designated drivers or sometimes we’ll rent a maxi.”

He said they drank mostly beers because it was more trouble to organise liquor bottles, cups, and chasers. However, with covid19, people started bringing their own drinks instead of having communal coolers, so, occasionally, someone would bring liquor to drink.

What had remained the same is that they all can run. He said the average hasher could get up and comfortably run seven or eight miles. They are usually people who love running or those who want to be healthy.

“A lot of people want to exercise, but they want to have fun. And hashing is not a race. I think that’s one of the biggest attractions for most people.”

Griffith himself did track and field, played football, basketball, and volleyball at Woodbrook Secondary School and joined as a way to keep fit.

In addition to the annual cross-dressing football match, the POSH3 used to have an annual red dress run charity event where everyone runs in red dresses. They also have the “annual overseas” where members go to a Caribbean island to hash so they would run, lime, and drink for three to four days. Or, they went on a seven-day cruise to run in each island at which they stopped.

“Two of us would leave with bags of flour and set the run and about 15 minutes after, the rest of the pack would leave. Most of the islands know about hashing or have hash clubs so it’s nothing new.”

However, he recalled one time they visited the Cayman Islands around the same time the US had an anthrax scare. People saw them dropping flour on the ground and called the police but, by the time the police arrived, the hashers had all left. They found out about the trouble they caused when they read about it in the island’s evening newspaper.

Other annual events include the “annual Tobago” which usually takes place on the last weekend in October. Because of the timing, they also have a party and a competition for best Halloween costume. Then, the next morning, whether they are hungover or not, they go for a run. There is also an annual in-house calypso competition on Carnival Saturday, after running and liming of course.

Besides the annual events, POSH3 members hash “in the bush” every other Saturday, run in and around PoS every other Monday, and the women of the group organise a run on the last Wednesday of each month.