Petco 5k9 Run 2013 race report.
A 5k for dogs that benefits Austin Pets Alive? Yes, please! Plus it came at a perfect time, one week after our Colorado runs, when we're supposed to start running again, but not taking it very seriously. Plus.. dogs as far as the eye can see!
We managed to refrain from instinctively showing up 2 hours early, and I managed not to have a panic attack when I saw Decker Lake and immediately thought I was going to have to swim (and I didn't bring my goggles! Or my bike!), but even with showing up an hour before the race, after picking up our packets, we had too much time to kill. Too much time for the dogs to get completely wound up and spazz out and generally be little hellions. So we walked them around and met some periphery dogs, and let Hilda pin Angie's puppy to the ground a few times, and let Enzo freak out because little girls are terrifying.
When it came time to line up.. it was a bit chaotic. All those dogs packed together in the start chute, energy high, dogs pestering each other, dogs shying away from each other, people trying to avoid stepping on dogs. Our shepherd randomly laying down repeatedly in the tiny space allotted to her, practically shoving over the stranger in front of us. Needless to say, after all that, we were very happy when the race started, to the tune of Who Let the Dogs Out.
Even though Matt runs twice as fast as I do, we'd agreed to do this run as a family, which meant Matt slowing way down to run with me. I had Hilda and Matt had Enzo, which was just a random assignment, as we'd been swapping back and forth all morning, when one of us would get tired with the way in which our current dog was uniquely annoying (leash-pulling and leaping suddenly in random directions, respectively).
The dogs actually settled in pretty quickly, even with all the distractions, and after a few minutes of trying to find some open space, things cleared up a bit as we got to the top of the big hill. I discovered I was actually pretty damn tired. My legs didn't hurt, but I was breathing hard and my legs felt heavy. Probably a combo of being a week out from a goal race, and it being insanely humid. It meant that Matt had to reign it back in even further to stay back with me. Hilda was pretty happy with my pace, though.
Photo by Tom Marek
Going down one big hill means going back up another, and the dogs were champs, running past lots of folks who were walking up.
It had rained pretty heavily the previous day, and I was glad I had opted to wear my trail shoes. The course was mostly big, chunky mulch and giant lake-like puddles. Just like the first year we did Danskin! We had fun splashing through the puddles enthusiastically, much to the dismay of the folks we passed, who were trying to stay as dry as possible. It's a dog run! Puddles are for dogs!
We skipped the first and last aid station, but we stopped at the second one and let the dogs drink, which they did enthusiastically. Hilda almost never drinks in public (closet drinker), so she was definitely working her little sheps off.
We'd wondered how many people would tell us that Enzo was limping, and that number turned out to be 2. Little dude can run fastfastfast and looks like an amazing gazelle, and he can walk with the best of them, but he doesn't have a trot. When he tries to run people-pace, he does this weird lurch that does, in fact, look like limping. We had to reassure them that our dog was fine, just weird.
The pups did great and were having the best time.... until around mile 2.5. Then they were ready to be done, thanks. So Matt and I spent the last half mile or so playing cheerleaders, telling them they were good dogs, telling them we were almost there, and they gamely stayed with us, and we crossed the finish line all together at 29:41. Not a 5k PR for Hilda, but Enzo's first 5k, so an automatic PR for him!
Photo by Ed Sparks
We hung out for a little while, socializing (which went much better for the dogs after they'd burned off all their energy) and watching the dancing and disc-catching demonstrations (Hilda REALLY wanted those frisbees), and then took the kids back to the car, where they promptly laid straight down (usually if we're in a car, Hilda's head is immediately out the window) and fell asleep by the time we backed out of the parking spot.
Photo by Matt
Overall, a great time was had by all! It was a really well-run event, and I hope they keep it around, because we'd definitely do it again.
We managed to refrain from instinctively showing up 2 hours early, and I managed not to have a panic attack when I saw Decker Lake and immediately thought I was going to have to swim (and I didn't bring my goggles! Or my bike!), but even with showing up an hour before the race, after picking up our packets, we had too much time to kill. Too much time for the dogs to get completely wound up and spazz out and generally be little hellions. So we walked them around and met some periphery dogs, and let Hilda pin Angie's puppy to the ground a few times, and let Enzo freak out because little girls are terrifying.
When it came time to line up.. it was a bit chaotic. All those dogs packed together in the start chute, energy high, dogs pestering each other, dogs shying away from each other, people trying to avoid stepping on dogs. Our shepherd randomly laying down repeatedly in the tiny space allotted to her, practically shoving over the stranger in front of us. Needless to say, after all that, we were very happy when the race started, to the tune of Who Let the Dogs Out.
Even though Matt runs twice as fast as I do, we'd agreed to do this run as a family, which meant Matt slowing way down to run with me. I had Hilda and Matt had Enzo, which was just a random assignment, as we'd been swapping back and forth all morning, when one of us would get tired with the way in which our current dog was uniquely annoying (leash-pulling and leaping suddenly in random directions, respectively).
The dogs actually settled in pretty quickly, even with all the distractions, and after a few minutes of trying to find some open space, things cleared up a bit as we got to the top of the big hill. I discovered I was actually pretty damn tired. My legs didn't hurt, but I was breathing hard and my legs felt heavy. Probably a combo of being a week out from a goal race, and it being insanely humid. It meant that Matt had to reign it back in even further to stay back with me. Hilda was pretty happy with my pace, though.
Photo by Tom Marek
Going down one big hill means going back up another, and the dogs were champs, running past lots of folks who were walking up.
It had rained pretty heavily the previous day, and I was glad I had opted to wear my trail shoes. The course was mostly big, chunky mulch and giant lake-like puddles. Just like the first year we did Danskin! We had fun splashing through the puddles enthusiastically, much to the dismay of the folks we passed, who were trying to stay as dry as possible. It's a dog run! Puddles are for dogs!
We skipped the first and last aid station, but we stopped at the second one and let the dogs drink, which they did enthusiastically. Hilda almost never drinks in public (closet drinker), so she was definitely working her little sheps off.
We'd wondered how many people would tell us that Enzo was limping, and that number turned out to be 2. Little dude can run fastfastfast and looks like an amazing gazelle, and he can walk with the best of them, but he doesn't have a trot. When he tries to run people-pace, he does this weird lurch that does, in fact, look like limping. We had to reassure them that our dog was fine, just weird.
The pups did great and were having the best time.... until around mile 2.5. Then they were ready to be done, thanks. So Matt and I spent the last half mile or so playing cheerleaders, telling them they were good dogs, telling them we were almost there, and they gamely stayed with us, and we crossed the finish line all together at 29:41. Not a 5k PR for Hilda, but Enzo's first 5k, so an automatic PR for him!
Photo by Ed Sparks
We hung out for a little while, socializing (which went much better for the dogs after they'd burned off all their energy) and watching the dancing and disc-catching demonstrations (Hilda REALLY wanted those frisbees), and then took the kids back to the car, where they promptly laid straight down (usually if we're in a car, Hilda's head is immediately out the window) and fell asleep by the time we backed out of the parking spot.
Photo by Matt
Overall, a great time was had by all! It was a really well-run event, and I hope they keep it around, because we'd definitely do it again.