A young Aberdeenshire runner will compete on the world stage this weekend – when he represents Great Britain, alongside a four-legged friend, in the sport of canicross.
Ten-year-old Rayne North school pupil Robert Irvine will race with spaniel Finn in Bardonecchia near Turin, Italy, in the 2024 ICT World Championships.
It was through his mother Gail that Robert took an interest in the sport – which sees runners pair with a dog to compete in cross-country running events.
It did not take long for the Meikle Wartle youngster to show he was a natural.
Mum Gail said: “I’ve always ran, and we got a Staffordshire bull terrier in 2021 and started canicross running with him in 2022.
“Robert saw me doing it and almost immediately said he wanted to do it.
“It’s quite technical – you are controlling the dog with your voice, the trails are challenging and you are running at speed. There’s a lot more to it compared to just running yourself.
“He took over my races as we only had the one dog.
“We were attached and it became very obvious very quickly that I was holding him up so this time last year Donna Gray (spaniel Finn’s owner) ran with him in an Aberdeenshire canicross race. He flew round the 3km technical course in 12 minutes, which is really quick.
“It was at that point I was approached by someone at the club, who said Robert was really quite good at this and recommended he try out at the nationals, and it has spiralled from there.
“He has since received sponsorship form K9 Trail Time and Run Dog Food, who provide his kit and Esther’s food.”
Young runner hoping training injury won’t hamper him this weekend
Robert faces the biggest race of his young career as he competes on the world stage.
Competition will be fierce and Robert hopes he can overcome a training injury so that he can perform at his best this weekend.
Gail said: “Robert runs with Young Meldrum Runners, but unfortunately he fell over last week and bust his knee but hopefully he’ll be okay.
“He’s got quite a small dog – a lot of the other runners will have purpose-bread Eurohounds, while he has a spaniel but being pulled at speed downhill can be quite unnerving, so we’ll see.
“If he got in the top 10, he’d be amazed, but really this is his first big competition, so he’s just delighted to be going and seeing how he gets on.
“The field is massively strong. The French champion is there, there are two world champions there, a Swiss champion – people from as far afield as Mexico and Canada are taking part.
Racers set off in time-trial-style format
“Adult races are over 5km and juniors run up to 3km.
“Robert’s race in Italy is 1.2km, but it is in an Alpine resort in Bardonecchia so it has a lot of elevations. Canicross has quite technical trails.
“Robert will run in two races at the weekend – one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. Runners go one after the other in 20-second gaps and the fastest person with the two combined times wins.
“You can’t all set-off together as it would be chaos.”
Irvine one of four canicross runners from Aberdeenshire taking part
Robert secured his place in the canicross world championships after finished second in the national heats at Dalby and Thetford in December and January.
This weekend will be his final race at junior level, which means Robert is still joined by a chaperone during the race – thankfully, it is Finn’s owner Gray who will join the duo in Italy.
Gail said: “Finn the spaniel is a borrowed dog and the one he competed in the nationals with.
“He has his own dog now, Esther, a pointer, but he has only had her since August and she hasn’t had her first race yet.
“Donna is driving the dog over for him as she is also competing with her own dog.
“There are four people from Canicross Aberdeenshire taking part which is remarkable really.
“The club has 80 members now and this really is a growing sport in the UK.”
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