Doggy 5K

This morning I ran the Doggy 5K in South Boston with my mutt, Cooper.  Also running were my wife, Rosanna, and our friend Kim and her dog, Bailey.  This is a great event that is organized by www.RACEMENU.com  (Race Against Cancer Events).  The proceeds from this event go to canine cancer research.  J. Alain Ferry is sort of the chief organizer of this event and Race Menu is his company.  He is very active and very involved in other events that feature pets or support organizations such as the MSPCA (Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

Cooper is a fanatic about running.  At the start of a race he howls, whines, and barks.  As the crowd surges forward and the race gets underway, he barks continuously at the rate of about 2 barks/second for the first half mile or so.  Today was no different and in a crowd of several hundred people with their leashed dogs, it is no easy task to navigate for both of us.  It actually takes an intense amount of focus and attention to where others are, how to avoid getting tripped or tripping others, and dodging the sudden stops of peeing dogs.  Additionally, having one arm committed to a leash with an eager hound on the end takes away from your running form and breathing rhythm.  Luckily for me after Cooper tried to set a blistering pace of 6:30 miles, he bonked around the 1.4 mile mark.  He slowed considerably and I was able to set the pace thereafter, which was a much more reasonable 8:00 minutes per mile.  He had to stop for a water break as well, which probably added about a minute to our total time.  Regardless, we finished strong and Cooper seemed happy to run down some people and pups at the end.  We passed more people than passed us and crossed the timing mat in 25:40, which makes our pace roughly 8:20/mile.  This was the fastest I've run a 5K with Cooper and the run around Castle Island and Pleasure Bay is very nice.  Luckily the weather was mild and it was sunny as well.

At the end of the race was a small expo for pets and peeps.  Cooper was able to get plenty of water and a free sample bag of chow to replenish his glycogen stores.  I had a banana and a KIND Bar, which I quite liked.  I believe it was Ginger Cashew Almond.