Indoor Camping with The Pittsburgh Hash House Harriers

A couple of months ago, we were lucky to work with a group of local runners called The Pittsburgh Hash House Harriers. Pgh-H3, which has been around for 30 years, is trail running club with a twist: they have beer stops during their runs. Typical hashes are 2-8 miles with 10-50 participants. The Pittsburgh hash is one of the most active groups in the country.

Pgh-H3 hosts a weekly hash – Sunday afternoons in the winter and Monday evenings in the summer. In addition to the weekly hashes, there are hashes for ‘fool’ moons, on most holidays and charity hashes.

For New Years Eve 2011, Pgh-H3 wanted to try something different – one suggestion was Art All Night mixed with indoor camping. The suggestion was an instant hit! The only issue was finding a venue in Pittsburgh that fit the budget of a non-profit group. That’s when Pgh-H3 crossed paths with us at Wylie Holdings.

We thought we had the perfect building for the runners to use for their all-night indoor camping party. The building we recommended at 5601 Butler Street was previously used for manufacturing and still had several offices with their 70’s retro décor. It was perfect for indoor camping!

Prior to New Years Eve, the hash hosted two work days to clean building, hang Christmas lights, set-up a DJ and food area. They had 35 people show up for a 6 mile run on New Years Eve and then stick around for the after party with many folks setting up tents in the offices. An additional forty people stopped by throughout the evening. The festivities raged until sun up!

The Pittsburgh Hash was a great group to work with on this party and we were happy to provide them with a unique space for a very unique party!