Barking Mad at a Dog Marathon

In a move I’m pretty sure I’ll end up regretting later this week, I spent nearly all day helping out at a dog marathon and having the time of my life!

I was supposed to help clean our village this morning, which is one of the requirements for living here.

But rain intervened. A friend had previously asked me to help out in the cleaning and operation of his mate’s dog marathon event, the first of its kind in Tokyo, apparently. The mate expected maybe a couple of dozens entries….almost 600 dogs applied (each paying a pretty hefty 4,000 yen to take part!) My mate’s mate needed help, so a group of us got together and volunteered to give them a hand.

I’m not too far from the event site at Showa Kinen Park and promised I’d go over once my chores were done.

Freed by the rain, I rode over earlier than expected and had a magnificent day despite bleak, icy weather, hunger and tiredness! How could I not have a magnificent day surrounded by literally hundreds of good doggos?

There were six races: 1.5 km and 3-km races, each categorized into small-, medium- or large-sized dogs. The pooches raced with their owners while attached to a leash.

There were also dog dancing exhibitions, dog chiropractors, stalls selling all sorts of dog-related accessories and even a vet on-site in case something happened (and they were also available to provide care to humans if need be).

My mates already had the place set up by the time I got there, so we just had fun watching the doggos and their owners. I even got to be the official starter for one of the races.

It took a while to get through the cleanup, and the park shut around the same time we finally finished.

I’ve got a couple of interviews lined up this week, on top of a grueling work schedule. I read the pamphlet for one of the companies I will test for, and completely lost confidence. They were keen after seeing my resume, as is often the case, but I wasn’t after seeing how much they want people to take a keen role in demonstrating leadership. Not really my forte. The drawing board is looking good. Even better now after having spent a day playing with the pups!