4.13 Imelda

Episode Summary

Imelda’s first hash came at Singapore’s 200th celebration run in 1984, where she was one of the few women admitted to a military-heavy men’s club. Back in Bangkok she sought out the local Harriettes, became the first female member of a men’s hash, and helped shape the city’s lively trail, restaurant, and social culture despite the sexism of the era.

She later founded the Thinking Drinking Hash and led Chiang Mai’s successful Interhash as the first female GM of an Interhash. Imelda explains bidding, budgeting, brewery support, trails, prelubes across Southeast Asia, the red-dress run, volunteer management, and the calm required to deliver a huge event. Her name—borrowed from Imelda Marcos and her legendary shoes—fits a groundbreaking, sharp-witted hash leader.