25/03/2026
An awesome post by Ben.
Although I do feel a little sad that incredible athletes have to justify their results in a world where people are so quick to judge and try to tear others down instead of having respect for the hard work that they put in and celebrating their achievements.
Over the years I’ve seen a lot of people think that getting a bigger, faster, purpose bred dog will make them faster, but what they don’t consider is the quality of athlete, training and dog welfare knowledge that it really requires to achieve at this level.
Anyone can run, but not everyone has the natural ability, work ethic and commitment to their dogs.
Let's talk Speed..
So a few of our times/performances have gone viral over the last few days, namely a 2:04 1km & 11:56 5km & it's caused quite a stir within running circles & the Canicross community have had to "defend" against a lot of accusations or doubt on it being fake/impossible.
There's been a lot of outright nonsense posted in response which I won't directly try to respond to as you can't educate stupid but..
I'm going to try and clear up a few things and hopefully many who are interested on both sides of the argument will see/read this and understand more about our World.
Firstly, I am a runner. My Dad was a Marathoner before I was born, I have competed Domestic Club Athletics (Track, Road & XC) since a teen & now compete Internationally as a Masters athlete with both my children running with an Athletics Club.
So trust me when I say I love the Sport of running & have the upmost respect for it and all the World class performances I've witnessed within it by many World class athletes.
Nothing I do in Canicross try's to claim that alone I'm something I'm not or that they are better performances or that they are better than the equivalent distances best.
To be honest, I am not motivated by times anyway, I simply shared our level within the Sport of Canicross to show people the quality of my dogs & what is possible on our way to chasing Titles (for those who don't know, we've done pretty well at this ;)).
I'm educated, work within the fitness industry and have a degree in Sports Strength & Conditioning. I understand physiology & biomechanics, none of this stuff is new to me so I do have a good understanding of all that is involved to allow these performances to happen.
A lot of focus has been on my solo ability not allowing these times. My PB's range from 1:56 (800m) through 14:18 (5km) to 29:51 (10km) to give an idea of my level without the dog.
Leading on from this, there has been claims the times can simply not be possible because of the Human body's ability to maintain this speed.
These are at best uneducated and not aware of the assistance a good dog can provide.
My 1km canicross time is probably equivalent to around my 100m Sprint time & my 5km canicross best just a fraction faster than my 800m best alone.
And it's worth noting many high level track athletes would of course have bests much faster than me, so the physical speed the body can move should not be a shock, the doubt here stems from the ability to "maintain" that speed.
But in Athletics or running alone you must produce & continue to "produce" this force, I do not have the same challenge & have a 30kg+ ripped beast helping to do this for me.
Do not underestimate the power of a strong, purpose bred & motivated animal!
I ran around 2:08/12:24 with Zuma's father Blake, who himself was a purpose bred multiple time World Champion in the Sport & line bred him with another of our own very good dogs to produce Zuma for exactly what I knew I needed (& luckily got) to go even faster.
For the record, I personally don't like the comparison to Athletic/Running World Records as to me, due to the full respect of what my dog gives, it is like comparing a cycling record to a running record.
Two different things united only by Sport.
Stay active, run with a dog or run without just make sure you're running..
All love to the Running & Canicross communities around the World,
Robbo x
