On Saturday, May 18th Ana (Anastasia Direwolf), my 3-year-old Czechoslovakian Vlciak and I ran in the Canine Biathlon event in Anniston, Alabama. The Czechoslovakian Vlciak is an amazing breed of dog, perfectly suited for such an activity! The course was about 4.5 miles long with an elevation change of almost 1500 feet up…and down. There were obstacles throughout the entire course. There were switchbacks so steep you needed to use the mounted ropes to climb up and down, cars, buses and trucks to scale over and through, tires and a huge tire mountain, a log over water you had to carry your dog while traversing, a large A frame, concrete barriers, wooden spools, a fun house, a bounce house, plank walks, and oh the water obstacles! You had to run with your dog through approximately a mile of creek beds, crawl through multiple sets of drainage pipes, mud crawls under fences and even a few water plunges. The Vlciak is a breed that loves running and climbing, but that being said, we did a lot to prepare for the run. We started running every morning a couple years ago, and we recently ran a half marathon distance of 13.1 miles together. We also train IGP so she is a pro at jumping, negotiating A frames and desensitized to a lot of things. We have done multiple hiking trips so she’s used to the narrow bridges over creeks and climbing, she’s also great with other dogs which is great because there were over 500 teams running that day.
I ran about noon with my shepherd and when I finished with him I ran the course with Ana. It was already getting late and we were among the last to run. The afternoon thunderstorms rolled in at the end of the course where there were all the elevation changes. It got dark, the wind kicked up and there was a torrential downpour, turning the entire last mile of the course into a complete mudslide. Ana did amazing! She tackled every obstacle without any hesitation, loved the running and climbing and the water and was completely unfazed by the extreme weather. We had the most amazing time and we are looking forward to our next adventure already! If anyone is interested in the event, it's held twice a year in the spring and fall and it's called The One World Canine Biathlon. It's a huge event, very well put together with plenty to do. There’s vendors, food trucks, live bands and free beer and cocktails for the competitors all day after the event.
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