For Mexico Hash House Harriers 2007 is a big year. The running group has landed Puerto Vallarta as site for their InterAmerican Hash. Says MCHHH spokesman, Trioska, (Nicknames, not real monikers, are part of the club's tradition) "Competition was fierce in Toronto last year. We outbid such popular sites as New Jersey and the San Francisco Bay area. It was good for us. It's good for Mexico. We expect some 1200 runners." The Harriers are known as an International Drinking Club with a Running Problem. In fact, the group owns a trade mark on the phrase in the United States. The idea is exercise and fun. Members come from all walks of life. Many are straight-laced, professional types during the week, but come the weekend it's transformation time. Dropped are formal attire and demeanor. On goes the track gear and sweat suits. Lightheartedness is in. There is nothing like a five-mile run or walk to enhance the desire for a beer or other thirst quenching beverages. Followed by enjoyable bantering and socializing.
Each club, and there are more than 1,000 in 90 countries, has its own character. Wackiness is cultivated. One tradition for first-time participants in a five-mile run is a baptism. You guess it! In beer. With the ceremony goes a moniker. The weirder, the better. Don't try to figure out the alter egos behind such nicknames as Hemorrhoids, Flashy Beaver, Dr. Demento or EZ Over -- it will do you no good.
To get an inkling of the international scope of the Hash House Harriers you would have to go back to 1938 when Alberto Gispert, a London-born accountant of Spanish heritage organized regular runs in Kuala Lumpur. Runners would follow a trail marked out in advance which, once finished, required a few beer-based rituals. The Hash House Harriers is a non-profit association. Supporting them in the IAH Puerto Vallarta 2007 are American Airlines and a major Puerto Vallarta hotel chain. Negotiations are in progress. Another indispensable sponsor is Corona Beer of Grupo Modelo Brewery. For observers of such industrial implications, Modelo now ranks as the fourth largest beer firm in the world.
The Federal District group is diverse. You'll find members from the US, Germany, Canada, Britain, Spain and the Scandinavian countries. The group has its own web page at http://www.mchhh.com

Communication is important, particularly, when the Harriers stage runs outside the city, many times at some storybook haciendas with all the trappings of old Mexico.
The MCHHH group runs once a month. Independent runs are also organized by Bulk Male every Sunday rain or shine. The site is Chapultepec Park. Running there is a scenic delight. Just imagine gigantic, centuries old Cyprus trees, alongside a beautiful lagoon, in an area spotted with historical sites such as a major battleground in the 1847 war between the US and Mexico and the castle where Austrian Emperor Maximilian and the Duchess Carlota lived during the French intervention in Mexico during the 1860s.
If you're interested in joining the Harriers, registration is easy. It doesn't cost a thing. E-mail to frog_mario@hotmail.com for details.
For information on the Labor Day InterAmerican Puerto Vallarta 2007 registration will be available online shortly. A group of dedicated "hashers" such as Bulk Male, Mata Hari, Oily Hole and Corcholata (Bottle Top) will be coordinating that IAH event.

ALBERT DENBOW
MrNewsMx