This was another race that had a special category for pet finisher.  I believe all the pets that participated in the race were dogs.  At least, I did not see any cats or birds.  However, Shadow, my golden retriever, and I were looking to add another Top Dog Award to his resume.  Shadow was coming off a big win at the Gobbler's Run and was looking forward to running faster at this race.

 

The weather was cold, 34 degrees, with a windchill of 27.  As I sized up our competioin before the race, I notice some fit dogs with less than fit owners and fit owners with chubby dogs.  That gave us a lot of confidence.  We had to start towards the back with the other dogs.  However, Shadow and I were able to get some room on the left and pass most of the pack in the first quarter mile.

 

This race is rather hilly even though it is in Fayetteville.  The first .4 is a monster climb.  Luckily, you get to run down that same hill at the finish.  When we reached the top of the first hill, we knew we had the dog race in hand.  However, we still wanted to better our time from our last race.  We struggled through the second mile but made up time on the final downhill.  We finished in 19:55, five seconds faster than our last race and a new PR for both of us.