So why has it taken me so long to write about "the dream"....
I guess because the reality was that the actual experience was one of the most challenging things that I have ever done. The memory will remain with me forever, and I will remember the smiles, the exhileration and the fact that we ran as we live. We ran as a team, good times, bad times, fun times and some downright dangerous times.
Each dog ran as it lives, personality to the fore....
We started at the back, to ensure that we did not infringe any human runner. Kobi, who has been trained to run 5 minute miles at parkrun, to race against humans, did not understand why we were going so slowly. He did not understand why he was not running with the front runners, why he was not racing them to the first bend.
Kroi did not understand what he was being asked to do. At only 6 months of age, he is only a baby. He tried to copy his idol Kobi, pulling excessively and very powerfully. He does not yet know about working, about pacing and about control...
Kade remembers parkrun in some form... he tries to race forward, and then something holds himself back - it may be his fading eyesight or that he lives in a soundless world, or it may just be that his body cannot run as it used to. Whatever the reason, his preference when running with me is to run either directly in front of me, or just by my side, with as much contact as possible. His choice of position places me in a very precarious position as I am trying not to trip over him, whilst being pulled forward by two dogs that would like to break the sound barrier....
Kroft stays on my left and just behind me, the entire duration of the run. Never rushing, but never infringing or distracting me from what I am trying to do.
Kez remains the worker that he is. He stays on the right, running as quickly or as slowly as I ask him. I necklined him to both Kroi and Kobi during various parts of the run, merely to allow some level of control.
Sometimes I am lost for words as to how best describe Kez. A dog in a million does not do him justice. This dog is more than phenomenal, a dog that can at times read my mind, and when he cannot read my mind, he can read my body and reacts in the way that he thinks I need him best. Usually he is right.....
There were times during the run when I truely felt in heaven. I asked the dogs to run forward, and they all ran together in unison. Each dog running full stride and forward at quite some speed. We slowed as I asked, and we speeded up as I asked.... These are the memories that will live with me forever - complete unison and complete bliss.....
I will remember the poo stops, the geese distractions and the steep descents. But I wont remember them with the fear or the frustration that I felt at the time. I will merely remember them as the part of the integral reality of living and breathing a challenging dream....
I will also remember the honorary member of the "K" team. His name may well begin with the letter "I", but he was there all the way... The stress before the run, the stress during the run... He took photographs and he video'd the precise points where I would have chosen had I thought deeply about it. Without him, the memories would probably have involved tears, pain and lots of mud upon my face.....
