Runners sport red dresses as they hit the streets for charity

It was the latest fundraiser by the Hash House Harriers, an offbeat running club which once sparked an anthrax scare after members dropped flour outside the US Consulate.

The most terrifying thing about last night's competitors were the hairy knees poking out under their bright red dresses.

The Hash House Harriers have been meeting up to run different routes around the Capital every Wednesday for 25 years, but they are perhaps best known for their fundraising events – when each club member has to don a red outfit, preferably a dress, and adopt a daft pseudonym.

In past years, members have even worn dresses to run a marathon through war-torn Beirut to raise money for victims of cluster bombs in Lebanon.

The club was started by British expats in Kuala Lumpur after the Second World War, and named after their favourite meeting place – the Hash House restaurant, known for its potato hash dish.

Clubs now operate in 184 countries across the world, although the red dress tradition began in San Francisco.

Runner Callum McCulloch, 54, from Edinburgh, said: "I've run for the Hash House runners all over the world. I even donned the red dress in Singapore once, which was a real eye-opener when we turned into the red-light district."

The runners mark out their weekly route using coloured flour – which saw them fall foul of the authorities in the wake of the Washington anthrax scare in 2001.

Police were inundated with reports of strange white powder being dropped around the city – including outside the US Consulate on Regent Terrace – and the club was forced to issue an apology.

Last night's route began at The Grange Sports Club, and around 60 runners – many clad in their trademark scarlet frocks – raised a few eyebrows in Stockbridge and down to The Shore at Leith.

The event, which was held in aid of StreetSMART, the city homeless charity, finished with a fundraising party back at the sports club.

StreetSMART campaign manager Martin Irons said: "I'm delighted the Edinburgh hash runners have agreed to partner with StreetSMART for their annual running event. They are an energetic, humorous bunch who genuinely want to help – ideal for StreetSMART.

"It's a seriously good fundraiser with some quirky humour thrown in for laughs."

He added: "This community support for StreetSMART is vital to ensure we can continue to help many worthwhile homeless charities on a local level.

"The generosity and compassion of the people of Edinburgh has been fundamental in ensuring the success of StreetSMART."