Canicross Velichovky 2025

Gladiator organizes not only obstacle races, but also pure running (canicross) races, like this one. So this time for a change, we just ran with our dogs in a harness, no obstacles, no mud. It was a fast race – a 2.5 km sprint, with almost zero elevation, which we ran in about 10 minutes. The race track led through the beautiful environment of the colorful autumn spa park. Lázně Velichovky is a beautiful place and in the colors of autumn and on a sunny day, they were perfect.

Race days are always very long and demanding. You could almost say that it’s not even worth all the travelling and effort because of only 10 minutes of running. But it is!

This day started early, as with every race. Wake up call at 4 am and right away we set off on a two-hour drive to Lázně Velichovky. There we prepared everything for the race (registration, walking the dogs, pre-drinks, putting on running gear…) and we were ready to start. We enjoyed the run a lot.

There were no age categories, all participants over 13 ran together. The only difference was the weight of the dog (under 15 kg and over 15 kg). Natálka finished second in a strong competition of 60 women with large dogs with a time of 8:47 min. WOW! She is probably faster and stronger every day. After the race, we packed everything up again and went to watch the Canicross World Championships, which took place in Pardubice this weekend. We returned home exhausted but happy late in the evening. Of course, we still had to unpack everything again, do the laundry, park the car and feed the dogs. Then it was all done and we could finally go to bed before midnight.