Blake is a Greyster—a mix of German Shorthaired Pointer, Greyhound, and Alaskan Husky—a type of dog bred for sled racing and perfectly suited to canicross. But as the sport grows in popularity in the U.K., so too has the variance in participating breeds, especially at the recreational end of the canicross spectrum.

Canicross is the combination of cross country running and dog walking, originating from the dog sledding community. In dog sledding, participants would continue to train off-season by running with their dogs—this became known as canicross and quickly developed as a sport in its own right.

Canicross is a kind of cross-country running with dogs. Runners attach themselves via a harness and bungee-cord to their canine friends—and then race.

Canicross, a European term for running your dog in harness as you run behind, is gaining in popularity in North America. Canicross allows you to continue conditioning both yourself and your dogs, yet has enough variation from winter skijoring to provide variety and challenge.