Report by Jon:
Race Weekend Report – Fur Nations, Cannock Chase.
Fur Nations is an international Canicross event pitting England, Scotland and Wales against each other. Each nation hosts a long bank holiday weekend of racing. Each weekend has the same format, with a 5k on Saturday, another 5k on Sunday and a 10k on Monday. Competitors are categorised based on age and number of dogs being run, then scored points for their country based on finishing positions.
Each race is like a time trial rather than a pure race. There is no mass start. Instead, competitors are called to the start line in number order, with the fastest going first.
I got there on Saturday morning and found that I’d been allocated number 78, out of about 120. I knew I’d be one of the slower ones, so no great shock there.
The start was mayhem, with most of the dogs getting totally hyper and howling with excitement. The organiser was shouting the start numbers with a megaphone, but it was still difficult to hear over the din. People were just looking round to find who should be in front and behind them. Somehow, it worked. 
I was a bit cautious on this first 5k, knowing that if I went mad, I’d struggle with achy muscles on the following days. I’d also been warned that there was a big hill on the course, the ‘hill of doom’ . Before that was a big descent and when you’re being pulled by dogs, downhill can be a bigger challenge than uphill. You have to hold your dogs back from building speed, which puts massive load through your quads and tests the grip on your shoes to the absolute max. Most people around me did the downhill at little more than walking pace. I found out later that a few of the faster guys had taken nasty tumbles.
At the bottom of the hill was a stream and many people were quickly dipping their dogs into the water for a cool down and drink. Then it was back uphill, steep enough to bring most people down to walking pace again. From there, it was undulating to the finish – overall, a challenging course. I came in just under 28 minutes, which turned out to be dead last of all the men competing there! The winning time was 16 minutes, set by a Scottish lass (given race number 1) who I was told was a favourite for the upcoming world champs. Watching the speed she set off at was astonishing.
The following day, I’d got number 70, so I took the lower start number as a positive. As with the day before, I left Hope with Julie and just raced with Huxley. Knowing what to expect this time, I went harder over Sunday’s 5k and went 40secs quicker. This time I was only second to last.
Monday was the 10k, two laps of the 5k loop. I was down to race number 64 by now. Julie had gone home by now, so I had both Hope and Huxley for this one. It was a warm day and I figured I’d be happy getting under the hour. The dogs had multiple water stops, along with one poo bag stop, but we managed to get in on 59 minutes. Job sorted. 
As well as a scoring event each day, there’s also a non scoring, shorter run/kids run each day. This has a great mix of serious competitors looking for a speed blast, kids and also some non competitive adults.
Overall, the event was brilliant. I learnt loads and absolutely loved it. The final leg of the Fur Nations is at Glamis Castle in Scotland on the bank holiday weekend at the end of the month. Hopefully, I’ll get chance to be there.
Below is a video of the start mayhem and another of the short run start, with the flying Scottish lass off first.
