This weekend we were ready for our seventh running, when a new race appeared on the schedule - the Mutt Strut in Davis, California (home of U.C. Davis Vet School). It IS a 2-hour drive but I heard great things about it and convinced Debi we had to do it, so up we drove Friday night. After all there aren't THAT many dog runs on the calendar all year. Saturday was overcast and threatening rain, perfect for a race. An early morning walk at the motel and Nicky took care of his "business" - a most important part of race preparation for dog and human alike! More than 600 dogs showed up for the 5K and 10K races; because of the crowd the race started at least 30 minutes late (I hear this is typical).
Nicky and I took our usual place right on the starting line, the perfect spot for Nicky to twirl like mad before the start of the race and intimidate the opposition, and also the perfect spot for our usual sprint start (no negative splits for us!). The race finally started and off we charged, winding our way through the arboretum and past various farm animals including, I'm told, llamas (Nicky and I were too busy racing to notice). We faded just a touch near the end but finished the 5K in 21:18, just two seconds :-( off our P.R. set back in 1990 when Nicky was half the age he is now. This was good for 22nd overall (out of 513 5K runners) and 2nd in our age group (45-49). Unlike Palo Alto, where categories are based solely on human's sex and dog's size, here the categories were traditional runner-based sex/age. Also, strangely, they don't *require* you to have a dog, and the overall winner and maybe five of the people who finished in front of me ran without a dog.
After the race: great food, interminable silly dog contests (most spots, biggest ears, etc.). Then it started raining, and they finally let you claim your awards instead of announcing them. For Nicky, it was a 2nd place dog tag and a 10-lb bag of dog food. Excellent! Plus TWO other Welsh Terriers showed up to race; a most excellent showing for the Welsh clan.
Today it was Palo Alto and the story was completely different. The temperature was higher (although still not hot), and the sun was in and out. Again, Nicky took care of "business" early in the morning, ensuring there would be no unexpected stops in the race! Race organizers claim 500 here as well, but to me it looked a lot smaller, more like 200-250. Again, it was Nicky and I right on the starting line, twirling and ready to bolt on the gun. 15 seconds before the start, the dog next to us slipped a leash and went darting off, his owner in pursuit! It turns out this dog was never caught by his owner, but managed to run the race (the course is essentially impossible to shortcut in a serious way) and cross the finish line first in 14:45, a truly awesome time! Unfortunately for him, a DQ.
Nicky and I started at our usual 6:40/mile pace. For the first half mile a woman with a tiny Yorkshire terrier was alongside, the fastest tiny dog I have ever seen in a dog run. Unfortunately, after about a mile and a quarter, Nicky started a serious fade. Looks like two races in two days was a little too ambitious a plan. We kept on truckin' but ended with a 23:47, our slowest time since 1988! Still good for 51st overall and 14th in our male runner, medium dog division.
During the awards ceremony, for the first time in seven years they actually enforced the size divisions a bit, DQ'ing one dog who was entered as a small dog but who, when he appeared on the podium to claim his award was clearly a medium (small is < 10", medium 10-20", large >20"). Unfortunately they didn't go far enough; two of the medium dog winners were 21 or 22", and another of the small dogs (in the woman runner division) was as big as Nicky (16"). There was one more DQ - a guy who was called up to win the award in the women's division - he checked that off because his dog was female :-)
No other Welsh Terriers showed today. To make matters worse, I think Nicky and Jody were called "miniature Airedales" no less than four times! (for the record there is no such thing, and also for the record Airedales were bred up from Welsh Terriers).
Jody and Debi ran both days, and had a great time. They also finished several minutes slower in Palo Alto, suffering from the higher temperatures. What a difference a day makes.
Sorry to go on at length. Some people train all year for the Boston Marathon. Nicky and I train all year for the Palo Alto Dog's Best Friend Run. In the end, we blew our chances at a good time to start another tradition in Davis, but it was well worth it. Us old guys may not have enough for two hard efforts in two days. But we've still got it.
Steve "The One at the Rear End of the Leash" Patt
BADRunner@aol.com
Proprietor of Running Dog Kennels of Cupertino