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| About to navigate through a field of cows... |
What better way to start the day than a four hour cross
country run with dogs, even breakfast has to wait sometimes….
It is rare for me to plan a precise route before I head out
the door. I have a rough idea of how
long I want to run for, but it matters not where we run or the actual distance
we cover. I have a very good sense of
direction and know the Wiltshire/ Hampshire countryside well so have no fears
about getting lost, plus the dogs and I have the ability to run for hours and
hours on motivation alone…. But as a precaution I take a mobile phone and on
the longish runs I take water, Shot Bloks & Clif Bars, just in case…..
I know where all the rivers and sources of water are for the
huskies, so I need only take emergency rations for them.
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| Behave, otherwise I leave you here ;-) |
As I was intending on running for several hours I opted to
run the dogs in harness, attached to me on a human harness via a double lead – “Cani-cross”
style for those familiar with that sport.
Normally I just run them on collars and long leads, which give them more
freedom and space to “play” and allow us all to run naturally. As soon as harnesses go on they jump into
work mode, very focussed and keen to do the job that they were bred to do. The one benefit of harnesses is that I have
free hands and can eat, drink and take photographs as we trot along admiring
the view….
We headed off Eastwards towards Hampshire, picking up a
route that runs alongside the railway line that goes into London. Meeting several dogs and their owners within
the first few miles and I was delighted to find that owners and dogs were very
polite, respectful and friendly – very different than some of the people/ dogs
that we meet when we run Westwards…. One
could assume that it has something to do with country people versus town people….
But I will not make the assumption as I know that there is more to it than
that!!
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| Typical terrain on the route... |
I love running with the huskies. We have run thousands of miles together and
spend hours upon hours each week running together. We know each other well and have the utmost respect
for each other’s needs. I allow them to
follow their hunting/ chasing instinct, and take advantage of their enthusiasm
to do some impromptu sprint training.
There are always warning signs before the launch forward in hunt mode…. A
flick of ears, and stiffening of body, little glances around them… they sense
the animal close by and I know before it appears what it will likely be…. It
may be a deer, a pheasant, a hare, or something else. I prepare for the surge forward and when it
happens and it is safe to do so, I issue the word “let’s go” and sprint forward
with them. I continue running for a
short distance before asking them to slow down and stop. If it is not safe to run with them, I perform
an emergency stop and the animal appears and then disappears as we stand and
watch.
To train a husky to stand and
watch “prey” involves a lot of hard work, but it has saved my life on numerous occasions!! Huskies are very intelligent dogs and don’t
just chase animals for the sake of it, they chase to hunt and to kill, when a
kill is not possible, they reduce their enthusiasm – me holding them back means
no way can they catch a deer, and they know this!!
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| YAY! We found Clarendon Way.. |
In return the dogs help me when I need help…. There are
times when I need them to either sprint forward (crossing busy roads) or
perform an emergency stop or run by my side (treacherous terrain when I am in
danger of falling over). I need them to
respond without hesitation, there is no time for thinking or questioning what I
am asking them to do. They know the difference
between me asking them to slow down because I am a little scared of running
downhill too quickly and when I actually am in danger. In nearly two decades of running with dogs
there have only ever been two occasions of me being in danger and the dogs not responding. Both times involved rescue dogs that I had
not raised since pups…..
There are two demonstrations that stand out for me as
brilliant examples of the relationships that I have with the huskies. The first was during a 30 mile ultra with
three huskies – the event involved running up and down Box Hill in Surrey, including
running down the infamous steps – have you ever actually counted them? I think there are 271 in total... We did it in such a beautifully controlled
fashion that I was in tears by the time we reached the bottom, so proud of my “boys”
especially as a squirrel appeared at one point….
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| Buzzard taking off.... |
The other example was during an ultra on the South West Coastal Path. Running with only Kez on this occasion, we reached the top of the steps near Lulworth Cove and I froze.
I was petrified and too scared to go any
further. Since falling while descending
a mountain during the World Ultra Trail Championships in 2011 I have become
very scared of running down steep descents.
Kez had already climbed down two steps when I froze, but as soon as he
realised, he reversed back up them and stood by my side. He looked up at me and edged forward, before
looking back at me. I followed him down
the first step and then the next as he continued forward, looking back at me
every few seconds.
We made it safely to
the bottom – without Kez there I would have simply turned around and quit the race.
We passed the
stables where I used to keep my pony and we passed the field where I first
learned how to mud ski courtesy of a herd of baby pigs – no pigs live there anymore
so we passed through uneventfully…
It was shortly after this point that I started making up the
route as I had never before run down the bridleways that we were now on.
My instinct was correct and by chance our
distraction of following the Red Kites also happened to lead us down the
correct path back into Wiltshire.
I
wanted to pick up the Clarendon Way and head homewards upon it – we found it rather
too easily if I am honest as I had quite liked the idea of pretending we were
lost for a little while… would have had to run further!!
Once on the Clarendon Way it was a simple case of following
it until we reached Pitton and then head up towards Figsbury Ring. We had some fun with teenage campers/ hikers
along the way, plus some “downtime” chasing mice…..
