Love-a-Stray 5k race report

by guest columnist Maddie

The girl woke up early again today. I saw it coming- she had all of her stuff ready last night. I hate these days. I have to get up early while I'd still like to stay in bed, get dragged around our boring neighborhood (who can possibly do their business at that hour, come on!) and then the girl leaves and I spend a stupid boring day all by myself. Yippee.

But wait... she wants me to come with her! This is so exciting! I wonder where we are going? She doesn't have enough stuff for a visit to grandma and grandpa's and she didn't mention the park. What an exciting adventure! I try my little trick to get the window to open so that I can feel the wind in my face. And it does! The day is just getting better and better.

It's still dark out and we just got off the fast road. Must mean we are getting out of the car soon. Fun!

Hmmm... Never been here before. But there are a lot of people. I love people. And oh my God- dogs! This is the best early morning ever!

This place is cool. The perfect place to do my business. It is just so cool to go to the bathroom in new places. Lets see how many times I can do it today. This whole place will be marked by me by the time we leave.

The girl keeps telling me to stop pulling. I wish she would just let me off this stupid leash. I could do so much exploring here if I was just on my own.

Now she is making me sit by a picnic table. She's filling out some stupid form. Can't I just play? I see a dog- Yes! We are going to say hi. It is a girl dog named Ruby. I'm bigger than she is, but she smells ok and is friendly. Maybe she will be my new friend.

What is going on? All the people are going over and standing together in one place. There must be an important meeting going to happen. Maybe everyone is gathering to say hi to me!

Wait- where is everyone going? Wait up! I'm coming!

We're running! This is so fun! I wish the girl would let me go faster. Ruby is getting away. I could totally keep up with anyone if she would let me off this stupid leash.

1.3 miles later....

Oh, man I'm tired. Can we be done now? I think that I'm done. Ooh- look- water! I'm thirsty so I'm just going to lay here for a little while and drink some water. It's hot out.

Wait- I don't want to run anymore. The stupid girl wants me to run again. I thought this was supposed to be a fun play day. I mean, I used to run with the girl all the time, but I'm just not feeling it today. Maybe I can find something to eat.

Stop pulling me! I just want to walk. That would be fun- let's walk. Hey- look at all the people again! Why are they going that way? Hey up there- I think that everyone is going the other way. Can we follow them? No? Ugh. this sucks.

Look- people with water. I love people. And they are nice. I love it when people pet me. Are we done yet? No? But I'm hot and tired! Hmmm... Problem solving time. Wait- the perfect solution. A drainage ditch. I love these. They are all full of water and mud. My favorite. I am going to smell so sweet.

Hey up there- I'm just going to hang out down here in the mud for awhile, kay? Nice cool mud. Nothing like it. The day is getting better again finally.

Ugh, she's pulling me again. I'm fine here, thank you. Just pick me up later. She never listens. When I don't listen I get yelled at, but she just does what she wants. Not fair.

Ok, ok, I'll walk.

Hey- there's Ruby coming back to say hi! What a sweet girl. Maybe I can play with her again sometime. Hey look, we're back to where all the people were. Cool.

Why do I have to run through that arch thing? This is seriously some weird stuff. Maybe the girl will let me just stay home and nap next time. That was hard work.

Oh my God! Does that nice lady have what I think she has? Is it a treat? YES! I love these weird race things. I wish the girl would bring me to these more often.

Epilogue:

Someone told me my race time was 37:10.1. I think that that's a pretty sweet time. I know cause they gave me this big trophy at the end. I must have won the whole race!

Splits:

Mile 1 8:50
Mile 2 11:08
Mile 3 15:18

About the author: Maddie is a 4 year black lab mix who lives with the girl and 2 other people in a big brick house. Her favorite activities are eating, sleeping, and long walks in the park. Her favorite foods are green peppers, grapes, pig ears, the girl's underwear, and anything that can be found in the trash.