"toobs and Wayne set off like mad dogs from the blocks at 09:32:30, but the first "Little Impossible" hill was trying to hide just around the corner. toobs and her relatively small legs and body, suits the faster stretches, and our team was overtaken by another team, on the very steep uphill. Team toobs (Tt) took back that place later when toobs took us into HER zone, on the less severe climbs and all of the descents.

When the Team hit the "Great Impossible" hill, Wayne was not able to maintain sufficient speed to ride up it and was overtaken by two teams being pulled by hounds. Again, toobs took control of the flatter sections after this hill, and three times Tt overtook other dog teams, only to be retaken again on the steeper sections. The race to the Finish Line over the last half km was very exciting, as Tt gained all the time on the team ahead right up to the line, and toobs was still flying.

Our time of 19:22.1, which is nearly a minute slower than practice, may well be due to the Bronchial Infection in Wayne which was diagnosed after the race by the two Championship Medics. The clear frustration of toobs can be seen throughout the steep sections when Wayne was unable to breathe cleanly enough to maintain sufficient oxygen for the energy required - She repeatedly turns and barks in annoyance with full knowledge that the months of training runs had produced much faster climbs than Wayne was clearly offering.

Our position after Day One in the ECF European Championship 2016 is 18th, but we intend to grab at least another place tomorrow.

Instead of a random computer-selected race order, we set off on Sunday in order of times set today. This means that the team 30 seconds in front of you is your closest competitor. I intend to catch them, bronchitis or no bronchitis!

Tt"

  The on-team video of the run, with wheezing accompaniment, can be viewed by clicking the frame below.  

"Now that I knew that my lungs and pipes would not work properly, I set off at a gentler pace on Day Two, to eke out as much oxygen from my body as I could before demanding too much of my lungs, too quickly.

Here are the links for each day video blog as they came in..... (filmed and edited on the road on my phone!).....

VBlog Day Minus One

VBlog Day One

VBlog Day Two

VBlog Day Three

VBlog Day Four Pt1 (to come)

VBlog Day Four Pt2

Nové Mêsto Fly Through

VBlog Day Five

VBlog Day Six

Practice Day One

The Queue for the dog team Vets

Race Day One - Start

Race Day One - On-Board Video and Audio

Race Day Two - On-Board Video Only