When one becomes two...

Falkirk Parkrun - an opportunity to run a 5k route in Scottish temperatures and on husky friendly terrain. Perfect opportunity for pocket rocket Kobi to continue his quest for super speed further than 1 mile....

Set in the glorious surroundings of Calendar Park in Falkirk, this new Parkrun is run by an amazingly friendly group of runners that offer dog biscuits and human sweeties to all finishers!!

True to form, we arrived at the start line not quite fully prepared to start the race and managed to lose about 30 seconds untangling dogs from ganglines and necklines - runners disappearing off into the distance! When finally both dogs were free from constraints, Kobi shot off the line in hot pursuit, determined to catch every runner at lightning speed.

We zipped past quite a few fellow parkrunners before reaching a narrow pathway, upon where I decided that it was not safe to try any super speed overtaking and would try and take advantage of the human runners blocking the path to slow Kobi down and not let him burn himself out.

My plan worked very well as we ran through some fabulous trails in the woods, up and down little undulations, avoiding squirrels and tree routes. Lovely course and it was a delight to watch the two dogs working well together, stride for stride and obeying my every command. I could see the happiness on the dogs' faces, as we flew round the bends clocking up km after km...

First mile 5:24, second mile 5:26 and then..... Kobi could no more.... Just as we reached the foot of the hill that is commonly known as "the mountain" to most Falkirk Parkrunners, Kobi ran out of run (in true Pooh Bear style..) and came to a spluttering stop, almost standstill.

He turned to look at me, confirming that he was now very tired and the fire in his belly to catch every runner truely burnt out. There is nothing I can do from this point forth other than jog/ walk to the finish and encourage him to just keep on moving forward.

And so to the finish we did plod, to resounding cheers of support from a fantastic crowd of Scottish supporters. Post race biscuits, sweets and chat an absolute pleasure.

Brilliant little parkrun event and I took fantastic encouragement knowing that Kobi can now run two fast miles!! Now all he has to do is hold it together for one more mile....

Hot dogs: country bumpkin dogs in city centres...

Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1, fabulous event that offers a variety of distances for both walker and runners - dogs allowed!

Excellent training for me coming the day after a fun 50 miler across the North Downs Way, jog in the park for Kez, and big challenge for little Kobi - running 30k with lots of people....

A rather how day, my first concern is always the well being of the dogs. The dogs have been training in warn conditions and so are very acclimatised to them. They are phenomenally fit and best of all they always let me know well in advance if they need help, i.e. a river swim. I know the signs and it works for us. We train on the race route, and I know where all the accessible river crossing. I also carry water and electrolytes for them, just in case...

Due to the earlier start, we began the run at the same time as the 50k runners (or rather we missed the start and chased after them for the first two miles...) with the intention of picking up the 20k route part way round and completing a final distance of 30k - the furthest Kobi has ever run.

In true Kobi style, we ran the first few miles at more effort than required... Thankfully Kez with his pacer's head on ensured we didn't do 5 minute miling! When Kobi did finally settle, it was an amazing experience to see him actually working with Kez. Head down, tail flying behind, he looked like a true husky. This is the first time he has shown this pose while in harness and bodes very well for his future as a longer distance athlete. Perhaps his dream to one day run a marathon may well become a reality....

The first river stop very nearly resulted in some outdoor swimming for me (much to the amusement of my fellow runners!!) - I forgot that the lines attached to the dogs were much shorter than the ones I normally have when the dogs are bathing in that particular section of the river!! Thankfully Ian was by my side to "anchor" me to the river bank.

We ran alongside our fellow runners for many miles, enjoying the scenery and chatting around us. The usual accusations of "cheating" were easily outweighed by the fantastic compliments and responses from our fellow runners as the huskies trotted past. Kez helped steer Kobi around legs, trees and lamposts. Kobi tried to barge his way through everyone and leave his "scent" on every blade of grass in the Wiltshire countryside....

We ran very slowly to ensure the dogs did not overheat, and stopped for very long times at the drink stations, which had been brilliantly supplied with a great variety of dogs bowls. We even discovered that Kobi rather enjoys jelly babies and Clif Bar Shot blocks!

The road sections (of which there are very few) were a huge problem for us - my country bumpkin dogs are not used to running on pavements and don't quite understand the safety protocol when running down a rather busy road. I do apologise to my fellow runners for our rather extravagant sprint on the road into Alderbury, when we probably clocked 3 minute mile pace in our desparation to get safely to the next traffic free section!!

Ian and I had to separate company in the Longford Estate as he was continuing for the full duration of the 50k, where as we had to now pick up the 20k route and head into Britford and back to Salisbury. A nice muddy tree lined route soon followed and we were able to have a little blast and dismiss the sadness as at not being able to continue with Ian for the full distance.

Kobi started looking a little tired and was beginning to show the behaviour we have come to recognise in our little rescue boy. When he gets tired his confidence drops and he starts to worry about things he is not familiar with. Different people, new challenges etc are all suddenly huge problems for a little boy that feels scared. Kez and I have to give him our confidence - he watches us listens to us and tries to follow our example. Only a few short months ago he would have given up at this point and shut down. Body drop the floor and his brain would shut down - this was how he had evolved in order to protect himself from all the trauma that he was subject to as a baby, before we rescued him.

The next river stop had a fence to negotiate before free river access, which Kez recognised and squeezed under with no problem. Kobi on the other hand convinced himself that the an axe wielding man was hidden within the fence and refused to even touch it. If I panic or show signs of stress, Kobi worsens, and so with a very deep breath and superhuman strength, I somehow managed to lift him over whilst not being hauled into the river by Kez who was happily splashing around! I was rewarded on the exit from river by suddenly seeing two huskies disappearing from me as I had forgotten to attach their dog line onto my running belt!! Thankfully Kez is extremely obedient and came running straight back to me when I called him.

The next challenge for little Kobi was to negotiate a very busy city centre -all that stood between us and the finish was a one mile section of a city full of tourists..... He panicked, I panicked and Kez just put his little head down and tried to drag us round all the obstacles. Kez really is a superstar. I know how stressed he must have been as he is not happy in crowds of people and certainly not ones that keep reaching out to touch him as we run past. People blocked our way and seemed to find it very funny to try and grab at the dogs, which were clearly scared. Poor Kobi was absolutely petrified as he tried to follow Kez. Both of them ran beside me and I tried to reassure them, and encourage them to keep moving. I knew that if we could just keep moving Kobi would be ok. Stressed yes, but it would give him strength for the next time we encounter such a challenge....

And we made it safely to the finish. Stopped short of the finishing chute to ensure our chip time was not recognised, however the sensors did pick it up and we were credited with a very fast 50k time for only running 30k (this has since been rectified).

The first thing I did when we stopped was call Kobi and Kez to me and praise them. Little Kobi just pushed his little body into mine and wanted to be hugged for a very long time. It was so sweet and so like a young human child wanting reassurance from a parent. When I finally managed to prise him out of my arms I looked at his little face and he looked so happy. So different from the puppy we met only last year. This little guy now loves life and all the challenges that it brings. These challenges do make him stronger and he is rapidly becoming a superstar. I am frequently in awe of his resiliance and fighting spirit. He has endured so much and actually appears grateful for what he now has. Human emotion and interpretation I know, but this is one of the reasons why I am able to get so much from my dogs - empathy and a desire to understand their behaviour in human terms.

Magic Miles in so many ways...

Speak of "Magic Miles" and I immediately think back to the days of Coe, Ovett and Cram. Hours of watching their races over 800m, 1500m & 1609m. Feeling inspired to run and dreaming of one day running for Team GBR....

Recently I have been looking for an opportunity to run a one mile race with Kobi our little rescue dog. A chance to see what he can do over the one mile distance (the little guy had a tendency to "blow up" in 5k races, but very fast for the first 1.5 miles). So when Martin Yelling and Tom Williams from Marathontalk.com came up with the briliant idea of a global Magic Mile challenge, I hoped this could be the perfect opportunity for us..

Poole Parkrun very kindly agreed to let us run in their staged event in Poole Park. Having previously run 49 Parkruns with Huskies, the dogs' behaviour has been complimented on numerous occasions and their reputation appears to be spreading.... Being a non dog runner myself sometimes, I know only too well the safety issues that need to be considered when running at high speeds around people and it is always my first concern, even if it means I have to stop or to run very wide, I will not put others in danger.

My original intention had been to run Kobi on his own, but after a pre race trial with him running solo I soon realised that he still has some major confidence issues that we need to work through before we take the next step.

For those of you that do not know Kobi's story, he was rescued last year very close to death and his future looked very bleak. Petrified of humans, his little mind and body had never known nourishing food or love. He was too weak for the vet to vaccinate him as the live vaccine could have killed him. I connected with him the first time I met him and knew I had to give him a chance of life and to be happy. I even allowed myself a very far fetched dream of one day turning him into a European Canix Champion...

Therefore Kez was drafted in to the race to give Kobi some canine support, and also to ensure perfect steering!!

Our pre race preparation did not go very well thanks to scarey men (Kobi's opinion), squirrels, loose dogs and a general "cannot be bothered" attitude from the dogs. I quickly reassessed my objective of trying to run 5 minutes, to just getting round the course with both dogs in front of me and no "incidents". The other extra exciting aspect of the race was that Liz Yelling (yes THE Liz Yelling of Olympic Marathon fame) and her husband Martin were both running in the sub 7 minute race!!

I started at the back, and very wide of all the other runners and with Ian's help we clipped on the neckline and held them for a few seconds to allow all the runners to get started. And then we were off...

Immediately both dogs went into work mode, full flight and chasing after the other runners. I kept them very wide for the first 3/4 lap to ensure all the runners had settled and it was safe to move over without infringement of anyone. I settled just behind the lead runners and felt completely in awe of what I was doing. Running this close to an Olympic athlete and watching the dogs running so freely and so happily and in full control I am glad that I was wearing sunglasses as I cannot be sure if the tears were due to the wind or the emotion.

The event organisers had very kindly set a course for dogs on the grass on the inside of the race circuit, but the dogs chose to run mostly on the tarmac - with the exception of the grass section on the far outside where we nearly had to hurdle the bench when Kez responded too quickly to me turn right "Gee" command (thanks Kez, we'll try steeplechase next time...)

My fears that the dogs would object to running three laps were soon overthrown as we flew round without breaking stride at the start/ finish point. On the last lap the fourth placed runner came up on the inside and I asked the dogs to go wide again to ensure he had full freedom to choose his route, they responded inmmediately but as we moved back to the inside I felt Kobi falter and slow down, was he going to blow up with only 300 metres to go...

Kobi moved onto the grass, and just as I started to fear that he had "run out of run", Kez decided that it was time for him to take control. Until this point Kobi had been setting the pace, Kez had done all the steering without much gusto, and to be fair I cannot blame him. He is an ultra runner, used to pacing himself for a very long run, not sprinting the entire distance. And he did not know how far or long he would be running this evening.

We soon started pulling back the distance we had lost to the runner in front of us and were gaining speed as we ran towards the finish. When a human is assisted by two racing huskies, the advantage in a sprint finish is phenomenal and I quickly had to make a decision as to whether I went for it or not. The risks were too great, visions of fast dogs, tangled lines and injured runners sprung to mind and I didn't ask for that final assistance. We stopped just short of the finish chute to ensure that Kobi didn't suddently bolt off to one side to avoid the people standing at the side.

Wow, I have never felt such immense pride in the team work that the boys and I showed during that run. Completely in control and all of us having such fun, doing what we love doing - running as a team. Running alongside athletes of such calibre and participating in such a fabulous fun challenge. And my ankle did not collapse or even seriously object to what was asked of it!

Our time was 5:02 and I know that with a little help and effort we can go faster.

Tomorrow I return to the 50 mile runs, but not before fueling the fire of the dream for little Kobi...

P.S. As the question will be asked... I have run 5:48 in a training run on an undulating course, without dogs.