Lucy’s favorite part of the race were the water crossings!
We are so proud of our trainer Bennett Chess and his English Setter Lucy! Following is his account of preparing for and running in the 2026 Ulti-Mutt 5K race in Tryon.
Canicross is one of the fastest growing dog sports in the world. The objective of the sport is for your dog to pull you while running while navigating a long course. My English Setter Lucy loves to run, so we started training for Canicross together! My goal was to compete in the Ulti-Mutt 5K race and represent Kabler School For Dogs. The course has lots of terrain and obstacles that dogs normally don’t get to see, truly putting their training and confidence to the test. I thought racing would be an incredible opportunity to experience how Lucy truly thrives when she gets to simply run!
To prepare for the race I started running with Lucy. I’ve been teaching Lucy NOT to pull since I first got her so she was a little hesitant to pull the first time we put on the harness. To solve this, I used what Lucy loves more than anything else; Toys! Each day I put Lucy in her harness and played fetch with her, letting her pull me to the ball while I ran behind her. This gave her the basic understanding that when she is in her harness, she is allowed to pull. Once she understood, we started running! We first ran a short trail. It took her a minute to realize she was allowed to pull, but once she did we were GOING! I could see her body language fully engage as she realized she could just Go Go Go, and it was an incredible feeling of freedom for both of us.
The obstacles were a challenging part of the race!
After weeks of training it was finally Ulti-Mutt Race Day! We decided to do the “Fun Run” non-competitive division since this was our first ever race. We had a bit of time to look around the Noble Dog Fest that was happening at the same time. There were tons of vendors selling gear, toys, training classes and some really cool activities for dogs. While waiting for the race to start Lucy and I tried out the Swift Paws Lure Course. She got to chase a little flag around a huge area. A great outlet for her strong prey drive!
Then it was time to run. Unable to contain my excitement, I headed over to the starting line as soon as I could. The runners were sent off in groups of 3 at a time. As Lucy saw each group in front of us send off I could see her get more and more excited. Once we were at the starting line, her tail was flinging around and her eyes were straight ahead. She was ready to book-it! She jumped into the air before starting off! We shot ahead of the other dogs as she pulled me to the first obstacle. I was confident she would be fine but felt she may be a bit curious. Of course she decided to stop and sniff the obstacle, but a little encouragement from me and we were back to running! We hit the trail and she was passing dog after dog, I could not believe she seemed to have zero interest in saying hello. She was singularly focused on the task at hand, and she was having the time of her life. At the second obstacle she was flawless, she looked like a dog that had run this race 100 times. The teeter totter was one that we hadn’t done much before, but it was big enough that we could both step on, which greatly helped her know that it was safe. I slowly shifted my weight so it would fall gently and she stayed with me, looking right at me, fully trusting I would keep her safe. We leapt off together and continued down the trail. There were plenty of water break spots throughout the race and at each one she would get her few sips then look right back down the trail. She just wanted to run!
Lucy fully engaged!
My favorite part of the race was the creek crossing, and I think it was Lucy’s favorite as well. Being a big dock diver and loving any water she can swim in, she saw that creek, and jumped right in! Given there were probably 5 or 6 dogs standing at the edge of the water, hesitant to go in, it made me feel proud! I did make sure not to run through the creek, I’d rather not bust my head on a rock, and Lucy saw that I wasn’t running and controlled her speed accordingly! It reminded me we are a team unit. One thing I have learned is when I give Lucy what she needs, she will do what I need in return.
The rest of the race was just as incredible. Toward the end there were a few more water obstacles, and we were VERY grateful for that on this sunny, 70 degree day. She was happy as can be throughout the entire race. By the time we reached the finish line she seemed almost disappointed it was over! We took lots of pictures of her in the medal she won! We were satisfied with a perfect day. And we can’t wait to do it again next year!
The Kabler team is proud of Lucy and Bennett’s racing success!
