Corona H3 #315

A brief history of hashing in the Philippine Islands . . .

The first hash club to start on the Philippine Islands was the Manila H3 founded by James 'Ratcatcher' Howard on 22 May 1972. He came over from Indonesia where he had been running with the Jakarta H3, and was assisted by Paul Bono, Fred Smoot, and Paul Simons. This club did not last long, as the second coming of the Manila H3 was founded by David Jenkins on 28 Apr 1975, with the assistance of Turkey Tom Noonan.
The history of the Manila H3 has been recorded by long time resident and local legend ‘Squatta’ in his “Poore Squatta’s Almanack.”

Just 3 years later, the Angeles City H3 (a.k.a. The Volcanic Ash' and originally named the Clark USAF Base H3) was found by Bill Booker on 19 Aug 1978. He had been hashing with the Manila H3, and was assisted by Walt Daniels and James ‘Silver Fox’ Gillard.
Since both the original and follow on Manila H3 was men only, the opportunity for the ladies to get involved finally happened when the Manila Harriettes was founded by Robin sometime in 1980. She was assisted by Judith Vaughn.

The Manila Mixed H3 was founded by Malcolm 'Lamb-Butt' Lambert on 14 Feb 1982. Lamb-Butt was assisted by Mike Gawthorpe, Olivia Gawthrope, Henning Jakobsen, and Nikolai Stettevollin.

The La Union H3 was founded by Bob 'Cobra' Chambers on 20 Nov 1983. Cobra had been hashing in Papua New Guinea with the Port Moresby H3, and was assisted by Wayne 'Wicked Mudguard' Ward, Ray 'Veteran' Bruce, and Rob 'Malibog' Denny.

The original Puerto Galera H3 was founded by Eric 'Digit' McGaw in Oct 1986. Digit had been hashing with the Manila H3, and was assisted by Andy 'The Fat One' McGaw. This club does not appear to have lasted long, as the second coming of the Puerto Galera H3 was founded by John 'Capt'n Malibog' Molyneaux on 8 Oct 1990. He had arrived from Hong Kong where he was running with the Wanchai H3, and was assisted by David 'Moby Dick' Austin and Chuck 'Coral Garden Walrus' Driver.

The Olongapo H3 was founded by Valerie 'Toe-Ma-Toe' Trader on 16 May 1987. She had been running in California with the San Diego H3.

Wrapping up the 1980s, the Angeles Beach H3 (a.k.a. British Empire & American Colonies H3) was founded by Rob ‘Malibog’ Denny on 20 Jul 1987 as a splinter group from the Angeles City H3. He was assisted by five others; in all they were called the ‘Gang of Six.’

NOW . . . getting to the point . . . The Corona H3 is a splinter hash off of the Angeles City H3 as a result of the COVID Pandemic. It was founded by "Egghead" back on 22 Mar 2020, more details to follow on that, but here is the scoop on today's trail.

Local hashers can make their own way to the start, but most choose to meet at Harriette's Place to ride in the Hash Truck (the overflow go in a jeepnee as needed). It was about a 35 minute ride out to the run site, way out beyond where the pavement ends.

The Corona H3 is known for their more physical trail requirements, to put it bluntly, and today was no exception. It was only 6+ kms, but took most of us well over 2 hours to complete, due to the extreme hills, bamboo forest, ditches, gullies, shit to climb over (and under), and all the other glorious shiggy. There was water, there were climbs, BUT, there was NO PAVEMENT. What a great day.

After finishing trail, the hares served us with a BBQ and there was plenty of hash beer. We had the chance to jump in the pool to cool off (OH, did I mention it was close to 38C (near 100F), so it was enough to regenerate enough energy for circle. After lighting the bonfire, we circled up for an hour or more of great entertainment. You'll just have to come out and experience that for yourselves. What a great day on the hash.

The pack was so friendly, so nice to hang out with. I'll post more pictures after I steal them from some of the local hashers. 🙂Read more