I have previously written about the wonderful world of canicrossing (or cross country running with your dog), a sport my husband and I only took up last year. Last Saturday (April 26) we ran our first Brutal10 race- a 10km off road race in Bagshot. I didn’t realise just how popular these races are with canicrossers and non-canicrossers alike as there must have been well over 30 canicrossers present on the day!
Compared to some people, who enter canicross events across the UK and Europe, our exposure to this sport is largely through weekly social runs with our fellow North Downs Canicrossers and by competing in a few local races. To be honest, I think our dogs, Red and Sidney, are happy about that. They would much prefer to spend less time travelling and more time running with their pals (well that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it) and there is plenty of beautiful countryside in and around the Guildford area that there’s no need to go much further really.
Over the six months since my husband and I have been doing canicross we’ve enjoyed a number of local races, such as the Hard as Snails run that takes in the Pilgrims’ Way and the four trail runs that form the Human Race series.
So on Saturday, after we took our obligatory team photo while we were looking fresh and clean and sporting our new North Downs Canicrossers team t-shirts, we gathered at the start line 10 minutes before the core runners. If you’ve never witnessed or experienced a canicross race start before, you really must; to a bystander it must be one of the noisiest and most entertaining race starts to observe.
First of all, just before a canicross race gets going, one or two dogs tend to start barking and whining with excitement (they know what’s coming and can’t wait to get started!). This then sets off some of the other dogs and the sound levels rise and rise until the anticipation is almost deafening! Many of the owners at this stage are laughing and soaking up the atmosphere, but our expressions soon change to one of tension (and sometimes trepidation) as the race gets started.
The moment at the start is when you need to keep your wits about you and just go with the tsunami of force that is a combination of powerful, determined dogs alongside runners trying desperately not to get dragged through their first 100m in sub 10 seconds! Of course, if you have a less powerful dog or are more evenly matched then you probably have a good laugh at the expense of the rest of us, although it certainly makes for a good photo opportunity as shown at the top. I wouldn’t miss it for the world- it’s really exhilarating and does tend to calm down into a more manageable pace after the initial frenzied start (honest).
The Brutal10 race itself was really good fun, but not for the faint hearted- plenty of hills and water- as stated on their website, it’s called the ‘Alpine Circuit’ for a reason. It’s a 10km course taking in parts of the Army Alpine Driving Training circuit and consists of two laps of track, paths and big water sections, some thigh to waist deep.
After a fast, flat start you go fairly quickly into the first of the steep climbs. Then, just when your lungs start to recover, they hit you with another one. Following that, you run out into an open section before tackling a third hill before descending into a small marsh area. There is a long, but less severe hill that takes you back up again (thanks for that) and after a few more undulating sections, then the delightful water feature section hits…
This was actually more fun than I expected. I wasn’t sure how our dogs would deal with it as they haven’t experienced a Brutal before, but they just got on with it. Yes we got very wet and muddy, but it wasn’t cold and it made a nice break from the hills, until, of course, we had to do it all again that is!
To be honest, as the organisers say on their website, “tough, wet and hilly running is just the way Brutal runners like it!” It’s certainly popular so I guess they have a point! And I would definitely do it all again and recommend it for non canicrossers too.
If you are interested in trying out canicross then check out our local Facebook page. We do social runs (all abilities welcome) most weekends and occasional weekday evenings. It’s a very friendly group and people are always willing to loan out any kit so you can try before you buy!
Gail Walker