Race: Dog Jog
Distance: 5k
Date: 18th August 2018
Supporting Runners: Jemma Love, Christa Ntuli, Rafa Benitez Love, Mr Chips
Fundraising to date: £4,561
Finishing Time: 00:34:01
I always knew that Adam was a popular guy and was always keen to make an effort to stay in touch with absolutely everyone.
It would drive us mad sometimes that he would come round and sit on his phone constantly messaging people. (Now I’ve been added to his friendship group’s WhatsApp chat, I can see why)
But amongst all of the work friends, school friends, childhood friends, friends of friends etc. Adam had another little BFF that misses him very much.
Mr Chips 🐶❤️
Anyone that knows me and follows me on social media will no doubt have come across this little fella the odd time 🙄
Mr Chips joined us in 2010 when Adam first moved out. I was the typical sibling, teasing that Mr Chips replaced Adam in our lives.
Side note: Mr Chips is not named after the catchphrase character. We were obsessed with this film called Jack Frost when we were kids and the dog in that film is called Mr Chips (we saw it on the end credits one day). I always said that I wanted a Mr Chips…years later I got one.
The OG Mr Chips bottom left.. find out more on IMDB..
But, of course, Mr Chips didn’t replace Adam at all – and when Adam would come home to see us, he would spend ages fussing and cuddling him whilst saying “look at him” over and over again.
They were buddies and it broke my heart that for months after Adam passed away, Chip would pull on his lead every time we were approaching a tall young guy with any resemblance to Adam.
It was only right to get Chippo involved in the 30for30 challenge – So I signed him up for his very own 5k dog jog.
Jemma signed up with Rafa Benitez Love and made her big return to running, post injury. We were also joined by Christa who shared the responsibility of running with the Chip.
Now as we know, mental health issues affect the best of us – so it is probably no surprise that my dog actually suffers from anxiety from time to time. He is a little bit nervous around other dogs and people outside of the house. Despite looking super friendly and cute, he can be a bit grumpy (definitely my dog then).
Don’t touch me
We got him a special little coat that advised people to give him space, and I wore a matching t-shirt for morale support.
The race started with “who let the dogs out” blasting over the speakers and we were honestly in dog lover heaven.
The 5k was 2 short loops around Heaton Park (having not been before this challenge, I’ve been quite a few times now and have to say what a great park).
Jemma’s leg held up for the race which was excellent news, and I think Rafa is ready to sign up for the New York Marathon herself. She bounced around like it was quite literally a walk in the park.
There were lots of doggos completing the race – big dogs, little dogs, athlete dogs, tired dogs, other nervous dogs, disabled dogs (😫)
Chips did great too – completing half the route with me and half with Christa. I think Adam would have loved the concept of us doing this race ❤️
I’d be lying if I said it all went smoothly though… I got upset when we had finished for many reasons but predominantly hormonal – but hey hormones and mental health is a whole other blog topic!
We gathered our medals, treats and other dog jog accessories and got the babies in the car who were both asleep before we had even left the car park.
Massive thanks to Jemma, Christa and Rafa for doing race number 25(!!) with us – a special and unique race I won’t forget for a long time!
5km is a long way for little doggos… if you’d like to sponsor Mr Chips and Rafa to help us hit our target as we enter the last 5 races then please visit: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/EmmaBramwell2
30 for 30 