Believe it or not, there was a time when newspapers didn\u2019t lead off articles about the Hash House Harriers by describing us as members of a drinking club with a running problem. Back in a kinder & gentler age, you were far more likely to see this instead, a quote attributed to a hasher named Phil Kirkland:<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve half a mind to join the hash, that\u2019s all you need.<\/em><\/p>\n You don\u2019t see the quote that often today, but we still call ourselves half-minds, and that\u2019s where it comes from. When I started the\u00a0Half-Mind Catalog<\/a>\u00a0in 1995, I put Kirkland\u2019s quote on the front page, and it\u2019s still there today (although I see now I didn\u2019t get it exactly right).<\/p>\n Last night, a friend and fellow hash webmaster forwarded this email, thinking I might have some additional knowledge:<\/p>\n Squatta here, Manila H3 archivist, hashtorian, onsec, scribe and general factotum \u2026 since 1983. Do you know the full citation for the 1978 interview with Phil Kirkland that popularized the \u201chalf mind\u201d epithet for hashers?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n All I knew in 1995 was what I\u2019d been told, that Phil Kirkland said it to a newspaper reporter who was writing a story about hashing. I decided to do a little digging. I still don\u2019t know much, but here\u2019s what I have so far:<\/p>\n The newspaper story, published by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, October 16, 1977,\u00a0was titled \u201cHarriers Out for Run and a Good Thirst.\u201d The dateline wasn\u2019t LA but Hong Kong, and it was about running with the Hong Kong H3. I couldn\u2019t access the full story, but I was able to\u00a0scan these two paragraphs<\/a>, the second one containing the quotation:<\/p>\n The harriers welcome all races and nationalities, but find that Europeans and Australians far outnumber the Asians in their ranks. \u201cThe Chinese are just too serious-minded for us,\u201d a Hong Kong member said. Women runners, no matter how able, are shunted off to a women\u2019s auxiliary, the Hash House Harriets. The ostensible reason for the segregation is that women can\u2019t run as far or as fast, but there may be some misogyny involved. \u201cThe club constitution clearly states that dogs, women and other pets are not permitted on runs,\u201d an Australian growled. The women, for their part, bridle at the suggestion that they\u2019re not as good. \u201cEvery time the men and women have a joint run, some of us finish far ahead of the men,\u201d Cynthia Chin, a Hong Kong Harriet, said.<\/p>\n Most Hong Kong Hashers are so devoted to the club that they run rain or shine, even when typhoon warnings are hoisted and sensible citizens are quaking indoors. What brings them out every Monday, they say, is the camaraderie plus the chance to escape the pressures of business. \u201cI look forward to this all week,\u201d Phil Kirkland, an Australian executive, said. \u201cThis is the only place in Hong Kong where people don\u2019t talk business.\u201d Others suggest that if you want a reason for the popularity of hashing, you need look no further than the club\u2019s motto: \u201cIf you\u2019ve half a mind to join the hash, that\u2019s all you need.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I recall reading somewhere that Phil Kirkland doesn\u2019t remember saying \u201cIf you\u2019ve half a mind to join the hash, that\u2019s all you need,\u201d\u00a0and now I know why\u2014he didn\u2019t. According to the Los Angeles Times story, it was the motto of the Hong Kong H3, and I don\u2019t know who originally said it. If anyone does, please\u00a0contact me<\/a>\u00a0and I\u2019ll update this post.<\/p>\n Whether Phil Kirkland said it or not, hashers who know the quote have always been told he did, and after digging up the original newspaper story, I got curious about the man himself. Here are a few things I learned, along with a couple of things I\u2019m not sure about (perhaps his friends can help fill in the blanks):<\/p>\n Phil\u2019s full hash handle is\u00a0Thrill Furkhand<\/a>, Furkhand for short.\u00a0He\u2019s an Aussie, and though I can\u2019t find a citation, I believe his mother hash is Sydney H3. We know from the newspaper article that he ran with Hong Kong H3 in 1977. I found a reference to him\u00a0running with Beijing H3 in 1979<\/a>\u00a0(and another reference listing him as a\u00a0co-founder of Beijing H3<\/a>). He was\u00a0active with Sydney H3 in 2009<\/a>.<\/p>\n I use the present tense when referring to Phil, but think he\u2019s been hashing with G since 2010. I can\u2019t find a definitive citation, but the Sydney Herald has a\u00a0memorial page<\/a>\u00a0for a Philip Kirkland who died in 2010, and a\u00a0Thrill Furkhand Trust<\/a>\u00a0was set up in Sydney in 2017.<\/p>\n