A Run Club Like No Other: Inside Indonesia’s Hash House Harriers

Running through rice fields in the pouring rain, chasing shredded paper trails through Indonesian villages, and finishing to cold beer and traditional dessert. That was Darren’s Tuesday afternoon when he joined the Bogor Hash House Harriers for the first time.

Darren is a Melbourne based trail runner who’s been running seriously since 2023, with his sights set on his first 100km trail race this year. On a trip to visit family in Indonesia, his uncle’s friend invited him along to something completely different. Here’s what happened…

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How did you end up at a run club in Indonesia?

I’m Australian Indonesian, so I have lots of relatives back in Indonesia. On my annual trip to visit family, my uncle introduced me to the club through a friend. My uncle is part of a men’s walking group, and he mentioned to his friend that he has a nephew who loves trail running. Next thing I know, I’m being brought along to his usual run club called Bogor Hash House Harriers.

So what actually is hashing?

Hash House Harriers is an international social running club with branches all over the world. Instead of following a leader with different pace or distance groups, runners have to work together to find paper trail markers that reveal the route as you go.

It’s basically a run club mixed with a scavenger hunt. A unique blend of running and orienteering, and honestly great training for trail races where you need to be comfortable finding course markers or navigating isolated trails.

The Hashing Dictionary

If you’re going to join a Hash House Harriers session, you’ll need to know the language:

• Hashers: The runners.
• Hare: The person who sets the trail before the session.
• On-on: Shout this when you’ve found the correct paper trail. It tells everyone nearby you’re on the right track.
• How are you?: Shout this to runners ahead of you to check whether they’ve found a trail marker or not.
• Back check: Shout this when you see an “X” mark on the trail. It means you’ve hit a deliberate trap and need to turn around and find the correct route. These are designed to slow down faster runners and let the rest of the group catch up.
• Check view: Shout this when you see a “CV” mark. It means this is a deliberate pause point to stop and enjoy the view.
• On-in: Shout this when you’ve finished the run and arrived back at the starting point. This is where the drinks, snacks and socialising begin.

Take us through a typical Tuesday session.

There are two groups each session: short and long. The short group walks or runs about 3 to 4km. The long group runs about 7 to 9km. The routes are almost always on trails, running through rice fields, local villages, mountainous hills and riverside.

We begin with a circle around briefing where the hares show what the trail markers look like. Short group gets short shredded papers, long group gets long shredded papers, typically both white. Both groups start at the same time.

From there, hashers go at their own pace to find the markers. You’ll bump into each other constantly, sharing intel about where you’ve checked and whether you’ve found anything.

The best part is when the fast hashers get cheeky. They’ll sprint ahead only to hit an X mark, meaning back check. Instead of turning around quietly, they’ll hide and wait for more runners to arrive so everyone has to run back together. The whole thing is full of laughter.

After running, and it rains a lot in Bogor (the city with the most rainfall on the island of Java), we head back to the start and shout “on-in” as we finish. Everyone changes, grabs drinks and snacks, and socialises while waiting for the rest of the group.

Then there’s a final circle around where everyone gives feedback to the hares on the route and trail markers. And if the course wasn’t well prepared? The hares have to do an ice water splash on themselves as punishment.

You rocked up knowing nobody. How was that?

I was nervous, but I came in with my go to strategy for trying new run clubs: be open minded, be curious, and smile.

I speak Bahasa Indonesia fluently so there wasn’t a language barrier, but I was completely caught off guard by the terminology. I had no idea what “on-on” meant or what the paper trails looked like, so I spent the first run blindly following the crowd.

The group was incredibly welcoming though. They made conversation, asked about my running experiences and goals, and at the end during the circle around they welcomed me with a cup of beer and a cheers with the whole group.

What’s the vibe like at the finish?

Full of warmth. Indonesians are known to be very friendly and value social cohesion, and you really feel that when everyone comes back from the run with a smile. There are heaps of photos being taken, remarks being shared about the trail, and plenty of laughing.

There’s usually an icy esky waiting with water, beer and Pocari Sweat. During my first session, there was also a traditional Indonesian dessert called Kolak. That was a nice surprise!

Best moment?

Two things. First, the beauty of the Indonesian landscape. We ran in pouring rain through terrain that’s completely different to what I’m used to in Australia. The mud, moss and humidity present a totally different challenge. It’s so slippery that even I was going down regularly.

But the most memorable thing is just how loud and funny Indonesians are. We’re known for commenting on random things and making completely unhinged jokes. Hearing other hashers cracking up mid run made the whole thing fly by. I genuinely didn’t realise how far I’d run until we were back at the start.

Advice for runners travelling overseas?

Start with Instagram. Search for run clubs in whatever city you’re visiting and browse through their posts and profiles. You can spot active clubs by how recently they’ve posted. I’d also send a DM to confirm they’re still running at the day and time advertised before you show up.

And if you’re curious about Hash House Harriers specifically, there are branches everywhere. Turns out there’s even a Melbourne chapter, which I’m definitely checking out once I’m back home!