When your home is on the race route
When the race route passes by your house... make a stop for the dog
Already this fall, the kids and I participated in the Guelph Humane Society Wiggle-Waggle-Walk-a-Thon and 5K Fun Run. A few days before the event, we received an email with all of the race details, which included the map for the race route. (As the name suggests, four-legged furry friends are part of the competition.) We were surprised to see that the race route actually went right by our house. That’s the first time that that has happened to me and I wondered if it would present too much of a draw to pack it in halfway through and seek refuge with my husband and my parents by running in my font door.
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My husband started bargaining with our begrudging son as we drove towards the race start line, on this beautiful Sunday morning. It went something like this: if he finished the race (which was the main goal) he wouldn’t have to cut the grass when he got home. If he packed it in halfway through, he’d have to get the lawn mower out. He was committed to participate in the race, but said he would only walk. That was fine by me. My slow running pace is equal to his long-legged saunter, so I figured it would be a race that we could stay together.
As the race started, my daughter, Ella, and her friend, Jocelyn, took off to lead the pack of runners. That was the last time we would see them for the duration of the race, and they were thrilled to eventually nab first (Jocelyn) and second (Ella) place ribbons.
David and I set off on our way. Once he gets going in these races, he seems to have a nice time. It’s getting him to the start line that’s become the challenge. But seeing all of the dogs in the race inspired David to pick up our own fur baby when we got to our house so that she could finish the last half of the race with us. We stopped long enough to visit the cheering squad of my husband and my parents in our driveway, picked up Misha, and away we went.
You can imagine how surprised Ella and her friend were to see David and I approach the finish line with our dog in tow.
In the end, it was naps all around for the Farrelly family that afternoon and I’m perfectly fine with that. Oh, and our grass never did get cut.
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