Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Katie's 5K9 Race Report

Hi, it's me Katie again, I wanted to tell you all about my race at the Austin 5K9 Walk,Run,Wag.

We got up really early on race morning, even before Connor woke up to whine for breakfast! I was still pretty sleepy when we left, so I slept in the car on the way. When we got close to Decker Lake I saw there were dogs in most of the other cars around us, fun! When we got to the park, I got super excited because there were dogs and people EVERYWHERE! When we finally got out of the car, I had to drag my parents over to where all the fun stuff was, I'm not sure what they were doing but they were being way too slow! In the main area there were lots of booths where people were giving stuff away, I got a new ball, a new frisbee, lots of treats, and tons of attention! I also got to meet Mia Adams, Hilda and Enzo Bush, and Carly Marek, I met lots of other dogs too, but my mom has told me a lot about Mia, Hilda and Enzo and Carly. I saw the Austin Pets Alive! booth where dogs without owners got to find people to run the race with, very cool!

My mom said "look at Tom" but I was saying thanks for bringing me to the race, it's fun already! Photo by Tom Marek
When it was almost time to start the race we got into the big crowd of dogs and people. Some of the dogs were barking and jumping and pulling, but after all our training, I knew I had to be good and wait for everyone to start. We found Banjo and Melissa, so yay! I'd get to run with Banjo again. Finally Logan counted down and said GO! We started running and I wanted to go FAST, but my mom kept holding me back, she says I always start out too fast and get tired before the end, but it was so exciting, I just wanted to GO! I saw my dad videoing us as we ran by too. It had rained on Friday night and my mom had said it would be "a muddy mess out there", I didn't realize that meant it would be SUPER FUN! Once we got off the road and onto the trail it was really muddy and there were huge puddles, some of them were really deep, up to my tummy (I bet some of the little dogs had to swim!). I had so much fun sloshing and splashing through the puddles, especially after my mom finally got her shoes wet and stopped trying to find the dry spots.
RUNNING! Photo by Tom Marek
We got to the first water stop and my mom made me stop and tried to make me drink out of a bowl of water, I think lots of other dogs had been drinking that water, so I just stood and waited until she offered me her cup of water and I drank that. Then we got to run again! There were 3 water stops and we had to stop at all of them even though I didn't want to, my mom said I had to drink water but I really just wanted to keep running! We ran with Banjo the whole time, and after the 2nd water stop we found Carly too. After the 2nd water stop I started to get a little tired, maybe my mom's right maybe I do start out too fast. She slowed down and we walked for a couple minutes. Then by the 3rd water stop I was ready to run again! We saw a dog being pushed in a stroller, it didn't look like much fun to me, but maybe Connor can ride in a wagon or stroller and do the race next year. When we came out of the woods we saw my dad and Tom Marek (Carly's dad). We stopped to say hi, and then ran to the finish line! Logan announced "Heather Herrick running with Katie" and the people at the finish line congratulated us. That was SO MUCH FUN!!!
High Fives at the finish! Photo by Ed Sparks
My mom saying "Congratulations on your race Katie" Photo by Ed Sparks
Me and Banjo after the race. Photo by Tom Marek
Getting a drink. Photo by Ed Sparks
My mom gave me lots of water after the finish, I didn't really want to stop and get a drink during the race (even though she forced me to stop), but I was thirsty after we finished. Then Jack found us and we had to follow him back to the start, there was a second race! Jack asked if we could lead out the 1 mile race and my parents said yes! Jack and Logan dedicated the race to me and told the people I have cancer but I still feel good and I'm making the most of my life! My parents seemed really happy and touched by the things that Jack & Logan said. They took lots of pictures of us too.Then it was time to start running again- yay! Logan counted down and yelled GO! And this time my dad ran with us too! But we only ran a little way and then stopped, my parents said I couldn't run a whole mile more- I think I could have! (but I was a tiny bit sore on Sunday, so maybe they were right).
A picture of our picture being taken at the 1 mile start
Then we watched the police dog demonstrations, actually I couldn't see that, the fence was too high, but I could hear and those dogs sounded serious! Then there was a frisbee demonstration, I LOVE to play frisbee, so when I saw that I tried to run over the fence and go catch a frisbee, but my mom bear hugged me and stopped me, she said I'd ruin the demonstration. I don't know how I'd ruin the demonstration, I was just going to catch the frisbee like the other dogs! I barked to try and tell her that and instead of letting me in the demo ring, they took me far away so I couldn't see the frisbees anymore. When that was all over, we went back to the main area and a nice lady gave me a new frisbee and I finally got to play with that one!
Tom took a picture of me catching my new frisbee. Photo by Tom Marek
We hung out with Carly for the awards ceremony. Carly and Carolyn even got an award. My mom & I got the very last award, we were the top fundraisers for the Petco Foundation and Austin Pets Alive! That made me really, really happy! They gave us so much stuff that my mom could barely carry it all! It's lots of treats and toys and stuff for my mom and coupons for even more stuff. She says we're going to give some of it away on my Facebook page. I decided to give the best toy to Connor so he wouldn't feel left out.

Photo by Tom Marek
Top Fundraisers Photo by Ed Sparks
I really hope my mom lets me race again, the entire day was SO MUCH FUN!!!

Thank you to Jack Murray of High Five Events and Hong Van Le of  the Petco 5K9 Walk Run series (and everyone else at High Five and 5K9). I haven't been to a lot of races, but my mom has and she said this was really well done, with a great expo and some very cool demonstrations.

And Thank you so much to everyone who donated to the Petco Foundation and Austin Pets Alive! for us, being the top fundraisers was pretty cool and obviously we couldn't have done that without all of you!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Katie's Pre- 5K9 Report

My friend Shayla made these cool cake balls for me (but I bet my parents don't let me eat any of them!)
Hi this is Katie. My dad left the computer open this morning, so this is my chance to write about my big race coming up on Saturday!

First I guess I should write about cancer. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I know I went to a lot of vets and when they said I had nasal cancer my parents were really sad and cried a lot. My mom says cancer is what made my nose bleed and what makes me sneeze and have a runny nose all the time (her nose runs all the time and she has allergies- I'm not sure what the difference is), none of that stuff really bothers me, so I'm not sure why my parents were so upset. They gave me some medicine and some other stuff and my nose hasn't been bleeding anymore, they seem happy about that.

I'm not really sure cancer is so bad. My parents say it will probably make me feel sick. But because of cancer I get extra attention, new toys, super yummy food, I get to run with my mom again, I get to raise money for the Petco Foundation, and  I get to go to a lot of cool places. But the best thing of all is all the love and support I've gotten from all my friends and family and even strangers! My mom always tells me what people say on my Facebook page and almost every day my dad says "Katie, you're a lucky dog, A LOT of people really love and care about you!" So even if cancer makes me feel really sick, I will always remember that I'm a very lucky dog because so many people love and care about me.

A few days after the cancer diagnosis, I was acting super happy to try and cheer up my parents. My mom said since I felt so good, she was going to try running with me again. Connor and I used to run with her all the time, but a few years ago Connor started to not be able to keep up anymore and Mom started running really far, so we stopped running with her. We went for a 1 mile run and had lots of fun! We went on a few more runs and then she asked if I wanted to run a race! I was super excited! My mom does lots of races but I've never gotten to go, I've only been to my Dad's mountain bike race. So she said if I stayed healthy and felt good, we'd run the Petco 5K9 in May. That was way back in February, so it seemed far away. But I was happy because I got to run a lot to train for the race!
My mom & me after I told her I wanted to do a race!
When WalkRunWag- the people in charge of the race- asked for ambassadors a few months ago, my mom thought we'd have fun doing that, so she applied for us. They said we'd make "perfect ambassadors", and they sent a package to us in the mail. It was full of all kinds of yummy smelling treats and food! There were also collars, bandanas, stickers, and t-shirts. My mom made me wear a t-shirt and took pictures- how embarrassing!
Stupid embarrassing t-shirt picture
Then she wouldn't let me or Connor eat any of the treats, she said we had to give them away to other dogs...sigh...at least I got a collar and bandana that look cool. As an ambassador I got to go places and tell people & dogs about the race- that was the best part of being an ambassador! I went to run workouts with Gilbert's Gazelles and Coach Cindy, I got to go to Jack & Adam's tri shop. Jack's a pretty cool guy, every time he sees me he gives me hugs and attention and my mom says he asks about me all the time. I even got to do a Moonlight run and meet my new friend Banjo!

At a Coach Cindy workout
At a Gilbert's Gazelles workout
I even got to meet Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano! (I think my mom was jealous that I got a picture with him and she didn't)

Jack & me at Jack & Adams
We also get to raise money for the Petco Foundation, which will give all the money raised in Austin to Austin Pets Alive!  They help dogs who don't have homes find homes with families to love them. I have been with my family since I was a tiny baby, so I don't know what it's like to be a shelter dog or to not have a family. But I've met other dogs who lived at shelters and they all say the people at the shelters are nice but being with a real family is much better. So I'm really happy that we get to raise money that will help dogs find good homes & families. If you'd like to help us, you can donate here.
This is my family, I'm happiest when all 4 of us get to be together. Photo by-Amy Gawlik of Gyspy Pearl Studio
I've had so much fun training for the race and being an ambassador! My mom says I'm well trained and will do great at the race (she says we won't win- there will be some super fast dogs there! But I don't care about that, I just want to run and have fun) I can't wait for Saturday, the race is going to be AWESOME!!!

Chilling out after Mike's Moonlight Run
PS I'll write a race report after the race, but it might take a couple days. I have to wait til my parents accidentally leave the computer open, I can't open that dumb latchy thing on top with my paws.