A marathon effort for hounds and heroes!

For most people the prospect of running a marathon is daunting enough, but running five marathons in five days - with dogs - and you're into the superhero bracket!
And how fitting that this heroic gesture should be in aid of the wonderful Hounds for Heroes.
And they're not approaching this in a cavalier way - on Sunday the team of four people and 11 dogs will be going along to a gait analyst and myotherapy expert to checkout any possibles problems.
Nicky Hutchinson revealed, "We are looking out how the therapy can improve our dogs performance, make us aware of any occult areas of weakness and prevent injury, stress etc."
So four people and lots of dogs canicross from Ifracombe to Burford in Wiltshire. Now that deserves sponsorship and guess what, here's a link so you can do just that!

Here's some more details I've pulled off their website:
Simon(42) and Cushla Lamen(40), Nicky Hutchinson(49) and Mark Dunbar(47) plus their canine athletes will run five marathons in five days as part of the Project 65 Forces March due to take place 27-31 May 2010. The fearless four will trek from Ilfracombe to Bulford in order to raise funds to buy dogs to be trained as Assistance Dogs specifically for disable Military Personnel.
Team captain, Simon Lamen, commented "three of us will be running with huskies - it is unlikely that huskies would ever make the grade training as Assistance Dogs but what they can do is run and run and they love it so it is their way of helping both the human and canine heroes!" Non-huskies Norman(Springer Spaniel) and Ringo(Heinz 57), however, give the huskies a run for their money with owner Mark Dunbar.
Simon (British Army) and Cushla Lamen are seasoned runners with several marathons and ultra-marathons under their belt. Nicky Hutchinson was a 40-a-day couch potato, non-runner until about ten years ago when she got her first huskies and got fit 'almost by mistake'. Mark Dunbar (Ret'd RAF) was also a non-runner until two years ago when he took on Springer Spaniel, Norman and he will also be running with his rescue dog, Ringo. Simon, Cushla and Mark will be representing the UK at the prestigious European canicross event the Trophee des Montagnes (12 canicross races in 9 days) and they also hope to compete in the forthcoming European Championships.
The runners expect it to be a tough experience but their primary concern will be the dog's welfare.'We will ensure the dogs are fit enough for the challenge and will be taking advice from our own vets as well as other specialists,' observed team member Nicky Hutchinson. 'Julia Robertson of Galen Therapy will be checking our dogs for muscle balance and patterning and giving us guidance on Canine Myotherapy and a canine exercise physiologist will be giving us natural strengthening exercises to practice with the dogs to provide ease and economy of movement and so ensure that our canine partners remain fit, happy and injury-free.
Because of the Forces connections the trailrunners are very keen to raise money for Hounds for Heroes as well as raise the profile of dog running as a sport in its own right.
The purpose of "Hounds for Heroes" is to provide specially trained assistance dogs to injured and disabled men and women of both the UK Armed Forces and Civilian Emergency Services.

Comments

Chapstaff said…
Good luck to them, hope they raise loads of money.
I'm already sponsoring someone from work who's walking to raise money for the same thing.
Let's hope for some cool weather for them all, especially the Huskies....they are going to love it.

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