Runner’s best friend: Dustin Hill and 5 lbs of Bacon

Ask Dustin Hill what his favourite thing to take along with him on a run is and he’ll probably respond that it’s five pounds of bacon. Before you discount him as a total wingnut, you should know he has a tiny Yorkshire terrier, weighing five pounds, whose name is Bacon.

How did he come up with the name? “Everybody loves bacon. It’s one of my favourite foods. I’d never heard of another dog named Bacon when I got him, so I thought it was pretty original. Then I ran into my neighbor who got a dog around the same time and he also named his dog Bacon. So now in my building we have a Yorkshire terrier and a bull terrier, you know, like Don Cherry’s dog, in our building,” Dustin says with a laugh.

For a five-pounder, Bacon can run pretty far. The longest runs that Dustin takes him on are around 14K, with about 515m of elevation gain. “If I’m going long enough that I need a gel, then I take along a little Ziploc baggie of kibble for Bacon, to keep him refueled,” Dustin says.

Both Dustin and Bacon are relatively new to running, starting a year ago, when Dustin picked up the sport. Bacon, at four and a half, was used to previously riding around in Dustin’s dog courier bag while cycling. Running keeps him a little more fit.

Dustin says the best thing about running with Bacon is people’s reactions to such a tiny dog being such a good runner. “People will be struggling up a hill and Bacon and I will pass them at a pretty good clip and their faces are priceless,” Dustin chuckles.

Before we signed off, Dustin said he had a piece of advice for anyone that likes to trail run with their dog: “a drop of rose geranium oil between the shoulder blades and a drop on the tail before runs and Bacon has never had another tic. I’ve been using it on myself too.”