It is kind of a global fact that the Hash House Harriers are mostly an older bunch of people and this has a lot to do with the fact that our schedules aren't usually all that conducive to people that have careers. Here in Chiang Mai, our Monday and Thursday runs would be all but impossible for someone with a regular 9-5 job to attend even if they had their own transport. They would arrive after we have already started. I suppose they could still manage it but I can understand why they don't.
Most of our jolly members are over 55 even though we don't really talk about how old anyone is and very few of our member work full-time. This has been true in every other Hash I have attended around the world.
While we are not young technically, I feel as though most of us are younger at heart than most people our age as we intentionally get together several times a week in order to act silly and socialize. For our members with children, the kids simply come along as well and hopefully they like it and will continue being Hashers long after they are no longer living with their parents. There is always some concern about the Hash dying out since no matter where you go in the world, the ratio of oldies to younguns is not very good if we are concerned about replenishing the ranks for the future. I think that most people enjoy Hashing and I can't really see what is not to love, but they simply don't have time until they are older.
Now for a bit of nostalgia. You can tell by the color of this picture and maybe from the haircuts that this picture is a few years old. It wasn't pre smart phone days but it was at least 5 years ago. I don't remember. I do know that 4 people in this picture are no longer with us, meaning that the passed away or as we like to say in the Hash, have gone to the great "On Out."
It's tragic to think about because those of us that knew them had such great times with them but this is just part of life, right. In the meantime I think that all of our Hash kennels here in Chiang Mai and around the world are doing a lot more than most people as far as enjoying the limited time that we have on earth is concerned.
We are an aging group here in Chiang Mai and all of us are very aware that one day we are going to go to the great circle check in the sky one day. Let's enjoy the time that we have while we have it!
