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Event: Cheltenham Racecourse (12 Feb 2006) The
next event is on the 26 March 2006 at The Look Out, Bracknell,
for details CLICK HERE Cheltenham Race Course has gone to the dogs With kind permission of Cheltenham Racecourse and the Riding for the Disabled (RDA) centre, on Sunday 12th February the dogs ruled Cheltenham Racecourse. The rain, the mud and the grey sky didn't dampen the spirits of 63 runners and their canine team mates. 5.4km of soggy grass and slippery water crossings proved challenging for the loftier members of the teams. The temperature was perfect for the dogs and with the grins and laughter on the finish line it seems the humans enjoyed the cooler temperatures as well. No one escaped muddy clothes, muddy dogs and muddy tales to take home with them. We had a superb collection of breeds running on the day, the eldest of which was 11 and their human team mates ranged between 8 and 60 years old. The fastest adult runner of the day over the 5.4km course was Richard Cook with a time of 20:48 and the fastest under 17 of the day over the 2.3km course was George Goodwin with a time of 8:29. We also introduced the have-a-go cani-cross for adults wanting to run on the shorter course. This event saw the first combined cani-cross/agility event with several competing in the two disciplines (the agility side organised by Paul and his team at Prestbury Park DATC). The overwhelming response was a huge success and with some fine tuning we hope to see this happen again in the future. There were 4 rings set up on the day, starters agility, starters jumping, novice agility and novice jumping (all for small, medium and large dogs) catering for over 250 runs, with a have-a-go agility under instruction for newcomers. The runners also enjoyed the warmth of the horse arena and hot food, both provided by the RDA. The event raised £518 for the RDA (Riding for the Disabled) and £50 for the WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals). Thanks to Raynet who provided safety communication and Dragon Vets for being on call - neither of which were called upon. As always, a big thank you to our race marshals and friends who hauled themselves out of bed at the crack of dawn to give us a helping hand or stand in the cold and rain (how do we say thank you enough for the time you gave to us and all the runners?). Our finish timer Simon Mays was without doubt the hero of the day with 3 and 4 people crossing the finishing line together he managed to log and time every runner correctly (with the aid of a video camera). Our sponsors came up trumps and provided great prizes for the placed runners and our race marshals. Every competitor left the event with a goodie bag which would not have been possible without their support. To see the list of sponsors CLICK HERE. On the day the event was covered by BBC radio Glos including several live interviews with competitors as well as Glos Echo and the Telegraph all of which had photographers and journalists. The next event on the 26th March at The Look Out, Bracknell Forest is a stunning forest trail. There are a lot of activities nearby to keep you occupied during or after the event. So bank on a full day of fun with your dogs and we look forward to seeing you all again. Keep training and don't forget the lead as you walk out the door. Eileen Photo gallery |
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