Running actually isn't required if you ever feel like joining a Hash House Harriers. There are multiple members of our groups that don't ever run. Hell, it isn't even required that you TRY to run. This most dishonorable position is normally reserved for the elderly but there's no rule that says you HAVE to run.
Some of the people who turn up to our events just have a go at doing as much of it as they can, then turn back around to the starting point in order to hang out with the other people who also turned back or were never actually going to do the runs anyway.
The only rule is that if you start drinking beer before the runners get back, you have to pay for them or bring your own. The prices we charge for runs not just here but around the world are so minimal that honestly, we probably lose money every year anyway.
You probably wouldn't choose to sit on the ice before anyone returns anyway.
As a rule, the Hares are not supposed to be on trail anyway and someone has to look after the cars while we are out running. But this is just a friendly reminder that the Hash House Harriers is not a group of super-athletic people. Hell, some of the people that turn up to our events have injuries that make it difficult to even stand up. Some of our members are older but were active hashers back when they had better mobility. Now they just come and hang out because they are the elders.
We are a social club first, the running part of it is just tradition. However, most of us are actually rather successful in our lives and pretend to be alcoholics a lot more so than we actually are that. Believe it or not we have on multiple occasions identified members that we feel drink "too much" and tried to intervene in their lives and get them to slow down. All of our songs are about drinking beer but we all know there is nothing funny about proper alcoholism and that peoples lives are ruined by it.
I suppose you could say that this is why we run, it helps to achieve balance in life and not just in relation to drinking, this is something that is true in all aspects of life.
In the meantime, crack open a cold one, and enjoy yourself!
