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features

CANICROSS: Canine activities

Could dogs be the key to getting the inactive moving? Kath Hudson finds out about the burgeoning sport of canicross

Published in Health Club Management 2016 issue 7

As I’m puffing and panting up the hills at my local parkrun, I’m regularly overtaken by people cruising past being towed by their dog, attached to their waist by a bungee lead. I have to confess I used to think they were cheating, but in fact canicross is a new sport in its own right.

Canicross Cornwall jointly runs parkrun Lanhydrock, where I run, and co-founder of the group Calvin Mudd says they jumped at the opportunity to help organise the weekly event in order to get the sport on the radar of more people.

Canicross originated in Scandinavia some 20 years ago, primarily as a way of exercising huskies and keeping them fit when there was no snow. From there it developed into a sport in its own right.

“It’s been going in the UK for around 11 years, but has really gained momentum in the past five to six years. It now it has a fairly even spread across the country, with most counties now having a group. There are also about 60 groups and pages on Facebook at the last count,” says Cushla Lamen, vice president for development at the British Sled Dog Sports Foundation (BSSF), the body in charge of canine-related adrenalin sports in the UK, and co-founder of Canicross Trailrunners.

The sport certainly has its risks: “It’s not canicross unless you’ve fallen over several times – and there’s no accounting for the squirrel moments,” says Lamen. “However, it’s a great sport for the family to do together. Also, those who are new to running are less intimidated about joining a club with their dog than they are about pitching up to a running club by themselves. We see a lot of people going from couch to 5k with canicross.”

The advent of social media has really driven the development of the sport and so far it has grown organically. However, Mudd is in the process of setting up a website in a bid to centralise information about clubs and events, as not everyone is on Facebook.

The clubs tend to be casual and friendly, with après-run coffee and cake part of the appeal. They meet twice a week, with different runs for different levels. Like a dog pack, they go the pace of the slowest runner and also wait for them to catch up.

This makes the sport particularly accessible for those who are new to running – both people and dogs. However, more ambitious runners get the chance to indulge their competitive streak, partly because the dog helps them to run much faster but also, if they’re happy to travel, because they could participate in competitions most weekends throughout the winter.

Race lengths range from 2.5k for children up to ultra marathons – and at the moment, even international events like the European Championships are open to everyone.

With the UK very much a nation of dog lovers, could we tap in to canicross to get more people active? Lots of people have dogs, an interest in getting one, or access to a dog belonging to friends or family – or even via borrowmydoggy.com. So could leisure centres put on classes to appeal to this market?

Lamen cautions against fitness instructors just launching a canicross class without proper planning, because an understanding of dog behaviour and handling is necessary: there’s skill involved in getting the dog to run in front and listen to left and right commands. That said, she says it would be easy to find someone locally to fulfill this role. Alternatively, a dog-loving fitness instructor could do the training required to lead runs.

Mudd says he would welcome the opportunity to team up with local operators as a way of reaching a wider market and mobilising more people. “There are a lot of unfit people and unfit dogs out there, so canicross solves two problems,” he says.

Sign up here to get Fit Tech's weekly ezine and every issue of Fit Tech magazine free on digital.
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features

CANICROSS: Canine activities

Could dogs be the key to getting the inactive moving? Kath Hudson finds out about the burgeoning sport of canicross

Published in Health Club Management 2016 issue 7

As I’m puffing and panting up the hills at my local parkrun, I’m regularly overtaken by people cruising past being towed by their dog, attached to their waist by a bungee lead. I have to confess I used to think they were cheating, but in fact canicross is a new sport in its own right.

Canicross Cornwall jointly runs parkrun Lanhydrock, where I run, and co-founder of the group Calvin Mudd says they jumped at the opportunity to help organise the weekly event in order to get the sport on the radar of more people.

Canicross originated in Scandinavia some 20 years ago, primarily as a way of exercising huskies and keeping them fit when there was no snow. From there it developed into a sport in its own right.

“It’s been going in the UK for around 11 years, but has really gained momentum in the past five to six years. It now it has a fairly even spread across the country, with most counties now having a group. There are also about 60 groups and pages on Facebook at the last count,” says Cushla Lamen, vice president for development at the British Sled Dog Sports Foundation (BSSF), the body in charge of canine-related adrenalin sports in the UK, and co-founder of Canicross Trailrunners.

The sport certainly has its risks: “It’s not canicross unless you’ve fallen over several times – and there’s no accounting for the squirrel moments,” says Lamen. “However, it’s a great sport for the family to do together. Also, those who are new to running are less intimidated about joining a club with their dog than they are about pitching up to a running club by themselves. We see a lot of people going from couch to 5k with canicross.”

The advent of social media has really driven the development of the sport and so far it has grown organically. However, Mudd is in the process of setting up a website in a bid to centralise information about clubs and events, as not everyone is on Facebook.

The clubs tend to be casual and friendly, with après-run coffee and cake part of the appeal. They meet twice a week, with different runs for different levels. Like a dog pack, they go the pace of the slowest runner and also wait for them to catch up.

This makes the sport particularly accessible for those who are new to running – both people and dogs. However, more ambitious runners get the chance to indulge their competitive streak, partly because the dog helps them to run much faster but also, if they’re happy to travel, because they could participate in competitions most weekends throughout the winter.

Race lengths range from 2.5k for children up to ultra marathons – and at the moment, even international events like the European Championships are open to everyone.

With the UK very much a nation of dog lovers, could we tap in to canicross to get more people active? Lots of people have dogs, an interest in getting one, or access to a dog belonging to friends or family – or even via borrowmydoggy.com. So could leisure centres put on classes to appeal to this market?

Lamen cautions against fitness instructors just launching a canicross class without proper planning, because an understanding of dog behaviour and handling is necessary: there’s skill involved in getting the dog to run in front and listen to left and right commands. That said, she says it would be easy to find someone locally to fulfill this role. Alternatively, a dog-loving fitness instructor could do the training required to lead runs.

Mudd says he would welcome the opportunity to team up with local operators as a way of reaching a wider market and mobilising more people. “There are a lot of unfit people and unfit dogs out there, so canicross solves two problems,” he says.

Sign up here to get Fit Tech's weekly ezine and every issue of Fit Tech magazine free on digital.
Gallery
More features
Editor's letter

Into the fitaverse

Fitness is already among the top three markets in the metaverse, with new technology and partnerships driving real growth and consumer engagement that looks likely to spill over into health clubs, gyms and studios
Fit Tech people

Ali Jawad

Paralympic powerlifter and founder, Accessercise
Users can easily identify which facilities in the UK are accessible to the disabled community
Fit Tech people

Hannes Sjöblad

MD, DSruptive
We want to give our users an implantable tool that allows them to collect their health data at any time and in any setting
Fit Tech people

Jamie Buck

Co-founder, Active in Time
We created a solution called AiT Voice, which turns digital data into a spoken audio timetable that connects to phone systems
Profile

Fahad Alhagbani: reinventing fitness

Alexa can help you book classes, check trainers’ bios and schedules, find out opening times, and a host of other information
Opinion

Building on the blockchain

For small sports teams looking to compete with giants, blockchain can be a secret weapon explains Lars Rensing, CEO of Protokol
Innovation

Bold move

We ended up raising US$7m in venture capital from incredible investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Primetime Partners, and GingerBread Capital
App analysis

Check your form

Sency’s motion analysis technology is allowing users to check their technique as they exercise. Co-founder and CEO Gal Rotman explains how
Profile

New reality

Sam Cole, CEO of FitXR, talks to Fit Tech about taking digital workouts to the next level, with an immersive, virtual reality fitness club
Profile

Sohail Rashid

My vision was to create a platform that could improve the sport for lifters at all levels and attract more people, similar to how Strava, Peloton and Zwift have in other sports
Ageing

Reverse Ageing

Many apps help people track their health, but Humanity founders Peter Ward and Michael Geer have put the focus on ageing, to help users to see the direct repercussions of their habits. They talk to Steph Eaves
App analysis

Going hybrid

Workout Anytime created its app in partnership with Virtuagym. Workout Anytime’s Greg Maurer and Virtuagym’s Hugo Braam explain the process behind its creation
Research

Physical activity monitors boost activity levels

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have conducted a meta analysis of all relevant research and found that the body of evidence shows an impact
Editor's letter

Two-way coaching

Content providers have been hugely active in the fit tech market since the start of the pandemic. We expect the industry to move on from delivering these services on a ‘broadcast-only’ basis as two-way coaching becomes the new USP
Fit Tech People

Laurent Petit

Co-founder, Active Giving
The future of sports and fitness are dependent on the climate. Our goal is to positively influence the future of our planet by instilling a global vision of wellbeing and a sense of collective action
Fit Tech People

Adam Zeitsiff

CEO, Intelivideo
We don’t just create the technology and bail – we support our clients’ ongoing hybridisation efforts
Fit Tech People

Anantharaman Pattabiraman

CEO and co-founder, Auro
When you’re undertaking fitness activities, unless you’re on a stationary bike, in most cases it’s not safe or necessary to be tied to a screen, especially a small screen
Fit Tech People

Mike Hansen

Managing partner, Endorphinz
We noticed a big gap in the market – customers needed better insights but also recommendations on what to do, whether that be customer acquisition, content creation, marketing and more
More features