Runners Say Canines Held Them Back

Only one of the 12 runners in Saturday’s Canine/Human World Cross County Championship was honest enough to admit that she slowed down her dog and not vice versa in the 2.1-mile race at Woodley Avenue Park. And she came in dead last.

“He normally runs with my husband,” panted Diana Baucum, 34, of Agua Dulce as she looked at her nonplussed collie, Moku. “He kept looking back at me like, ‘What is the problem?’ ”

The rest of the runners swore that their times would have been better if only the dogs could have kept up.

Many of the participants said they regularly run with their animals. Saturday’s winner, Peter Mogg, 39, of Moorpark, is a competitive runner in training for U.S.A. Track and Field Masters in Oregon.

Mogg’s 6-year-old golden retriever, Rembrandt, twice a week runs five miles with his master and so had no problem taking the fire hydrant trophy awarded to the first-place winner. Their time was 10 minutes, 40 seconds.

Other teams just came out to have fun. Tim Bell, a veterinarian from Chatsworth, brought his 16-week-old Labrador puppy out for his first race. The two came in fourth.

“He was dragging, poor guy, the last lap,” Bell said. “But I didn’t have to pick him up. That was the goal.”

Proceeds from the competition, sponsored by Farlar International, a pet products supply company, are being divided between American Guide Dogs for the Blind and the city of Los Angeles’ Department of Animal Regulation.