Hash runs are an international running phenomenon with the motto “a drinking club with a running problem.” Essentially what happens is a bunch of awesome people get together and follow a bunch of predetermined, chalk marked running courses while drinking a lot of beer and getting wild in other ways. This wildness can range anywhere from family friendly, to decidedly not family friendly, to the cops show up and ruin everything. The Lima Hash runs fall squarely into the realm of good-natured fun (because when the cops show up in Lima, they’re likely to just crack one open with you).
My Running Background
My friend Haven had been telling me to come along and do a Hash run with him for the last couple years, and I kept putting it off—which turned out to be my loss. I’ve never been a fast runner, but I’ve done over 20 marathons just to fend off the inevitable bulge of middle age. Nothing breaks up a work week like getting up at 4 in the morning to line up at the start of some insane running event and spend the whole day trotting in the hope of achieving some far off finish line that never seems to get any closer.
I’ve long been a guy who drinks alcoholic beverages during marathons. A couple years back at the Twin Cities Marathon, starting at mile 10 I had 11 beers before the finish. I was actually starting to feel it by then, so, for the first time in my marathon career, I didn’t have a beer after I crossed the finish line. The main thing I remember is the announcer kept calling out the various impediments of the people I finished with, “runner 403 who is running without a lung, runner 1297 who is running without legs, and then that guy who appears to be middle aged and drunk.”
Me, “Yeahhhhh!” as I blew past the lungless, legless guys around me to win the sprint for 86,000th place. “Get some, YEAAHHHH!”
However, despite magnificent achievements like that, I haven’t been running the last year because my Achilles has been hurting. No, it’s not an excuse, I ran 3 marathons on it before I concluded that I should give the marathons a break for a while (I’m thinking the Spring of 2019 though, it feels better lately).
Lima Hash Runs
The run I did wound through the streets and alleys of Barranco, which is a nice, Bohemian district with lots of pretty street graffiti and old statues and things like that. There were several courses marked with various color chalk, which included a walking option of about 8 km. The long run was in the 17km range, so it was a pretty serious running day.
I showed up at this little park in Barranco at the designated time, and then about an hour after that the runners started showing up. Haven says this is typical, so if you plan to do the Lima Hash run, be aware it’s going to take you the whole day. Don’t expect to go watch a movie in the afternoon or go on a date…c’mon you can take one day off from dating can’t you?
My plan was to do the walk since it’s always best to jump into the shallow end of a new pool first (this is a new philosophy I’ve developed that seems to be working out for me). Haven showed up and immediately handed me a beer, I think I had about three before we even began our walk so that was about right.
Awesome People
We headed out and the group was really fun and engaging. Everybody had backpacks overflowing with beer, and the second you ran out somebody cracked open a new one. “Here, here, it means I don’t have to carry it anymore.” We hiked along, looking for chalk markings that might or might not have been there. Some people were kind of vaguely aware of the route, and there’s always the concern that a person might wipe off the marking, or a dog might urinate on it, or it might rain (though that’s not likely in Lima).
Hiking through Barranco is is fun away, but it’s more fun with new, friendly, increasingly drunk people. We meandered down to the beach, then back up a stairway in Chorillos, before making our way back to Barranco.
The Cops Showed Up
Unfortunately, I’d broken the first rule of Lima Hash runs which is, don’t plan anything else for the day. I had a poker game organized for the evening, so I had to split out of there. Haven, who was doing the long run, was coming to the Poker game too, but he finished the Hash. He got to the poker game late and said the cops showed up at the end. It was no big deal, just a bunch of flashing lights and barking, no arrests were made.
Apparently the Lima Hash runs go on a couple times a month, generally they alternate between runs in Lima and runs on the outskirts of town. For those they rent a bus and head out. If you’re looking for something to do in Lima that is not your typical, sterilized exploration of the city, the Lima Hash runs are a great option. I’m told, compared to other international Hash houses, the Lima group falls into the “tame” or “family friendly” category.
Next time I’m in Peru for an extended period, I’ll definitely try to make the Lima Hash runs a habit. I believe the cost was something like S/. 25, which was totally worth it. You can catch up with what they’re doing on their Facebook group. See you at the next one, “On, on!”
