Running the K9 4K

Saturday found us doing a little "summer training" by running the Annual K9 4K Race in Frisco.

Max, Zorro & I crossing the finish line. Note the huskies are "shoulder to shoulder"
and look ready & willing to run another 4K!

Highlights:

1. We shaved almost 30 seconds off our previous "fastest time" - finishing in 17m 10s!
2. We placed 8th overall in the race!
3. We placed 2nd in my (the human's) age group!

As usual, all times & places were the human's fault. The huskies were primed for first place and a record pace. I tried, I tried...

The start of the race made the front page of the local Summit Daily newspaper, here are some scans of that front page - sorry it's kind of grainy... The result of a scan of a newspaper using my el-cheapo scanner:

Closeup of Max & Zorro taking off at the starting line.
Shoulder to shoulder, legs in unison, happy faces.
These 2 "get it" when it comes to racing!

Full shot of the race start (click to enlarge) - we are to to the left in yellow (Brad),
red (Max) and black (Zorro). Note the haphazard dogs going every which way,
except the 2 huskies who are in perfect form and charging straight ahead.
We were in second place by the time we hit the first corner - focused, sprinting
Siberian machines!

It's also fun to scroll through the "finish line shots" of the race - patient, this page has over 140 images! What's so interesting? Most of the dogs cross the finish line at or behind their human partner. The exception? Max & Zorro - they finish every race in full sprint at the extension of their gangline (leash, in this case). No human, on foot, can match their speed & endurance!