Inside the Sea of Red: Photos and Highlights from the New Orleans Red Dress Run

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The global Hash House Harriers brand itself as a "drinking club with a running problem." Born in 1938 British Malaya as a way for colonial officers to run off weekend hangovers, the group uses military-style paper trails to stage non-competitive foot chases. The red dress tradition began in 1988 in Long Diego, California, when a woman arrived for a hash in a red dress straight from an airline flight. Challenged to run in her formal wear, she completed the route anyway, inspiring an annual gag that spread worldwide.

In New Orleans, the concept mutated into something far larger. The New Orleans Hash House Harriers established their chapter run in the 1990s. While most international hashes draw dozens or hundreds, the New Orleans event snowballed into an open-invitation civic ritual. Tens of thousands of unregistered spectators now pack the sidewalks, cheering on ticketed runners as they pound the pavement under the blistering Southern sun.