Two Nanjing legends are coming together in a couple of weeks, united by a single colour; red. That would be the hallmark of the charity Hopeful Hearts, for which the annual running event from our local chapter of the Hash House Harriers aims to raise funds.
13 October is the date for this year’s Red Dress Run, a charity fun run where each participant is encouraged to wear a red dress. That is every man, woman and child all wearing red dresses or at the very least something red. Indeed quite a sight to see!
The first Red Dress Run, held in 1987, was organised by the San Diego Hash House Harriers in California. It began when one of the club members had a friend visiting who wanted to be introduced to Hashing. The fact that this woman, Donna Rhinehart, showed up in a Red Dress for the run did not deter her. She ran in her dress. The next year, the club invited her back for their very first Red Dress Run. In addressing the crowd at that event, she suggested the event could be used in support of local charities and thus was born a new fundraising phenomenon.
Red Dress Runs are now held all over the world and have raised millions for local charities in the cities where they are staged.
In Nanjing, the Run is being organised by the Nanjing H3 Mutiny (NJH3) which has been an active local Hashing club since 2022. With runs twice a month in and around Nanjing and loosely describing themselves as a “drinking club with a running problem”, NJH3 accommodates groups of both runners and walkers. As long as you are interested in getting a bit of social exercise, followed by even more socialising, you’ll be happy to be a hasher.
The group is loosely organised with members coming and going constantly. Some move away and some stop coming when they begin having families, while some come and go over the years. It is also not unusual for “hashers” to move to another city and join another hash group there and thus immediately plug themselves into a new social circle of friends.
Monies raised on 123 October will go to Hopeful Hearts, a charity which helps underprivileged children with congenital heart defects receive the operations and medical care that their families cannot afford to provide.
Those interested in supporting Hopeful Hearts by wearing a red dress for a fun day out with plenty socialising thrown in may join the event’s WeChat group via the QR code below. Therein, all necessary information for the day will be provided.
It all began on Friday, 8 November, 2002. Two foreign ladies, Helene and Mira, were in a car passing Baima Park in Nanjing when Helene spotted against a tree by the side of the road a baby wrapped in a red blanket.
Making the decision to name the baby boy, “Loetje” and look after him, it was discovered that Loetje had a serious heart condition. Visiting a local orphanage, a group of volunteering foreign ladies discovered there were 10 other children at the orphanage who also had heart problems.
Loetje would not survive much longer but his legacy, as well as the story of Helene and Mira’s selflessness, lives on today. They had taken the decision to form “Hopeful Hearts”.
