There are lots of benefits to dog ownership.
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Kvothe wrote:
kiltedrunner wrote:
These canicross harnesses are quite common in the UK and are ineligible for parkrun 5k records because they offer such a huge advantage (the time is listed as 'assisted'). Every time you leave the ground you are basically pulled effortlessly through the air and so our local 21 min 5k runner becomes sub-19 when running with her dog. The 5k canicross world record is held by some random guy and it's faster than Cheptegai, so that tells you all you need to know. This lady should be dq'd from the podium, no question. I'd love a shot of one of the harnesses though.
1224 5k and 204 1k by Ben Robinson I think this might be him, but I don't know if all these times were unassisted. He is much much faster with a dog than without.Came here to post something similar.
Here he is dropping 12.24 at his local parkrun.
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amkelley wrote:
I'm finding this thread quite interesting. I had no idea "canicross" actually exists or that records are kept for dog-assisted running. It makes sense that most runners could be helped by being pulled by a large, athletic dog as long as they'd practiced doing it.
I have two large, athletic dogs who can certainly outrun me at short distances. However, they are both long-coated and would probably overheat before finishing 5K unless the weather were quite cold.
Me too and I find it interesting that it it denoted as assisted in some places! Good!
What about sledding without the sled?32 -
txRUNNERgirl wrote:
If the race allows dogs, you can't complain, but yes there is an advantage.
Is it really an advantage to run with a big dog pulling you? Seems to me you would repeatedly have to put the brakes on to keep from falling on your face.
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Slainte wrote:
txRUNNERgirl wrote:
If the race allows dogs, you can't complain, but yes there is an advantage.
Is it really an advantage to run with a big dog pulling you?
This guy hasn't cracked 14 mins without a dog as far as I can see, so yes, obviously a huge advantage:
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apparently a wolf is twice as fast as a dog so I wonder how fast these people would run trying that.
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(the average dog)
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i personally think this lady should be imprisoned for a short period or pay damages
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I find these comments really interesting. My dog has passed so it's been a while since I've run with a dog, but I ran probably 2000 or 3000 miles with him, maybe more - long runs, short runs, and a couple races. Running with him in a race was definitely not an advantage. Even leaving aside the high likelihood you're going to have to do a poop stop and him being distracted and wanting to go left or right, when he's pulling straight ahead, it still takes a lot of energy to hold on and pull him back and you can't swing your arms like normal. Perhaps it would be different with a special lead. I only raced with him once or twice because I found it stressful and annoying, and my times were definitely not faster. My husband is normally faster than me, but if we'd race when he was holding onto our dog, we'd be the same speed, or I'd beat him.
Mandating a 5 ft leash is really stupid because the standard leash length is 6 feet. 95% of people have 6 ft leashes for their dogs. You shouldn't have to go out and buy a special 5 ft leash to run a race.
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dogsrunningsss wrote:
I find these comments really interesting. My dog has passed so it's been a while since I've run with a dog, but I ran probably 2000 or 3000 miles with him, maybe more - long runs, short runs, and a couple races. Running with him in a race was definitely not an advantage. Even leaving aside the high likelihood you're going to have to do a poop stop and him being distracted and wanting to go left or right, when he's pulling straight ahead, it still takes a lot of energy to hold on and pull him back and you can't swing your arms like normal. Perhaps it would be different with a special lead. I only raced with him once or twice because I found it stressful and annoying, and my times were definitely not faster. My husband is normally faster than me, but if we'd race when he was holding onto our dog, we'd be the same speed, or I'd beat him.
Mandating a 5 ft leash is really stupid because the standard leash length is 6 feet. 95% of people have 6 ft leashes for their dogs. You shouldn't have to go out and buy a special 5 ft leash to run a race.
It's specifically canicross waist harnesses that are performance enhancing, I doubt there is much/any benefit from a normal hand leash.
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kiltedrunner wrote:
dogsrunningsss wrote:
I find these comments really interesting. My dog has passed so it's been a while since I've run with a dog, but I ran probably 2000 or 3000 miles with him, maybe more - long runs, short runs, and a couple races. Running with him in a race was definitely not an advantage. Even leaving aside the high likelihood you're going to have to do a poop stop and him being distracted and wanting to go left or right, when he's pulling straight ahead, it still takes a lot of energy to hold on and pull him back and you can't swing your arms like normal. Perhaps it would be different with a special lead. I only raced with him once or twice because I found it stressful and annoying, and my times were definitely not faster. My husband is normally faster than me, but if we'd race when he was holding onto our dog, we'd be the same speed, or I'd beat him.
Mandating a 5 ft leash is really stupid because the standard leash length is 6 feet. 95% of people have 6 ft leashes for their dogs. You shouldn't have to go out and buy a special 5 ft leash to run a race.
It's specifically canicross waist harnesses that are performance enhancing, I doubt there is much/any benefit from a normal hand leash.
There is some benefit to being pulled, no matter how inefficiently. The canicross waist harness gives a huge advantage, but even something crude, like a leash would take off a significant amount of time. A runner using even a leash system is no longer entirely responsible for their time, under their own effort and should be dq'd.
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Slainte wrote:
txRUNNERgirl wrote:
If the race allows dogs, you can't complain, but yes there is an advantage.
Is it really an advantage to run with a big dog pulling you? Seems to me you would repeatedly have to put the brakes on to keep from falling on your face.
An inexperienced dog runner might have to pull back a little, slowing the dog, but someone like that canicross champion would not have to brake, he'd simply have to turn over faster, which he can do because he is slowing the dog, who is exerting forward momentum. The dog is slowed (vs competing without dragging a human, but the human is accelerated). The process won't be 100% efficient, but it will always allow a human to run faster than unassisted, provided the dog is at least typical.
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My dog really slows me down when running. Excessively urinating and pooping. She is a wise dog because she only poops on liberal lawns. Liberal as meaning pro choice signs, democratic signs and forward thinking flags. My running friend was slightly bothered that I do not pick up the poo, but I said it was ok because the liberals love free $#|¥.
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If the dog was on one of those waist bungee cord type leashes, then yes, not fair. A regular short leash, that's fine.
The race director probably didn't realize the advantage of running with a dog on one of those things as most people probably wouldn't. If you and your dog know what you're doing then you'll run much faster as the canicross record indicates.
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The original poster didn't say anything about a special canicross leash.
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dogsrunningsss wrote:
The original poster didn't say anything about a special canicross leash.
If the woman made the podium whilst running with a hand leash of 'over 5ft' then frankly she deserves the prize money. But I would place a large bet on it being a waist harness, as in my experience they are the only dog runners that interfere with the upper positions in races. And if it was a waist harness it should absolutely be a DQ.
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