Doggie Dash 5k

The champions!

 Dundas had it’s first annual Doggie Dash 5k on Saturday, and Mesa and I
couldn’t turn down the opportunity – her first 5k!

The organizers of the race did a really great job with the event.  They
came with a pack of about 5-7 of their own or foster dogs so that people who
didn’t have a dog could run with one.  I nudged Nate to take one.  He
was reluctant, but went over to the group.

“You want the fast one?” one of the race organizers asked. 
Nate said sure, and he was handed Bosco, some sort of Pit Bull mix. “He likes to pull.”

 We lined up and the gun went off.  Mesa and I were somehow at the
back of the pack, so started out slow and worked out way to the front.  So
many dogs running every which way, and leashes to watch out for (since Mesa and
I are tied together with our Stunt Puppy leash – not a good idea to get
tangled!)!  What I saw in front of me literally made me double over with
uncontrollable laughter.  There’s Nate, being PULLED, arms outstretched as
far as possible, and Bosco pulling as HARD as he possibly could.  You can see the power in his legs, trying to dig into the pavement to try to move himself, and this slow human, along faster.  Nate’s
legs could hardly keep up :).

As Mesa and I pulled even with him, me still trying to stop my
uncontrollable laughter, the scene became even more hilarious.  Bosco is pulling
so hard he sounds like he’s about to keel over.  His tongue is as far out
of his mouth as possible, and he’s already completely covered in long gobs of
drool.

Mesa knows we’re racing at this point, I’m not sure how.  It’s pretty
amazing how good of a team we are.  Perhaps it’s because we’ve probably
done thousands of miles together this last year and can just sense things
(I know how she’ll take a corner, I can sense the line she’s taking and
adjust the belt around me to accommodate, she looks up at me at corners where
we sometimes turn left or right to see which direction I’m leaning before
turning with me in lock step – it’s downright awesome).  We actually start
racing after the first mile, when I’ve stopped bursting out in random fits of
laughter.  5:20 pace for the second mile until the turn around.  We
stop there for a brief break for her to get a drink of water.  She takes a
sip & then looks up at me like: aren’t we racing?  Why the heck
are we stopped?  So we start up again.  5:45 mile for that 2nd mile
(shouldn’t have stopped!  That would have been a beautiful 5:2x mile
split!).  The 3rd mile she’s no longer pulling at all, just running
alongside.  And it’s HOT this direction.  No wind, 90ish degrees and
terrible humidity.  Gross.  I start to feel my core temp rise
& I worry about Mesa as well.  I know this feeling all too well.  Not worth it for a low key 5k. We slow to about 6 minutes, finishing 1st in 17:47 (about a minute
and a half in front of the next team – Nate and Bosco!)

Bosco apparently didn’t pace himself well and ended up needing Nate to
pull him for the second half of the run :).  Guess they made a good team:
Bosco pulling Nate through half, Nate pulling him for the second half :). 
After the race Bosco immediately took a spot in the shade, flopped over, not to do much
moving for the rest of the day, I’m sure.  I was downright impressed
(disgusted?) with the amount of drool that dog had hanging from his mouth. 🙂

Mesa just needed a little water afterwards, and then I swear she watched the
other dogs quizzically, “Why are you tired?”.  Ha.

Overall, a ton of fun, a good chance to get the legs moving fast, and a fun
memory made (I still smile at the image of Nate, arm outstretched, legs trying
to keep up to the almost hyperventalating, but hell-bent on getting from point
A to B (wherever he thought B was) as fast as possible :).  I may just try
to find other dog (or dog friendly?) races – the most fun I’ve had at a 5k in a
while!

It’s hot out!

Nate and Bosco, who tried to give us a run for our money 🙂

Oh, Bosco… wish I could have taken a side shot.  He was SO drooly (not to mention completely worn out)