Save the Date for the Dog Days 5K - June 12th

Yes!!! We are forming a team again in 2010 of Pet Haven supporters ... this year we will be participating in the inaugural Dog Days 5K9 Run/Walk on Saturday, June 12th.

The Pet Haven Fast and Furballs committee is finalizing details and will be sending out information on this in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, get those running/walking shoes out and start training for the 5K9 Run/Walk.

For more info, and to join the Pet Haven team, email volunteer@pethavenmn.org. Join the team and help us raise money for homeless dogs and cats!

To check out photos from last year's event click here. 

A huge success!!

The weather yesterday for the 5K-9 Run/Walk couldn't have been more perfect!! The team met in front of the StuntPuppy booth at 7:30 ... everyone had their bright orange t-shirts on and the dogs (adoptable Pet Haven dogs and alums) adorned orange bandanas that either read "ADOPT ME" or simply The Fast and the Furballs.

Savannah, Pet Haven dog up for adoption, wooed a runner even before the race began. We of course gave him a Pet Haven business card and hopes he checks on her :) How can you not love this adorable face (she insisted on closeup shot!).

Other adoptable dogs that were there included: Winston, Lilah, Pepper and Katie (cheerleading team!) ... and two 9 month cattle dogs who will be coming into Pet Haven's foster program!


And Bode, co-captain of Pet Haven's Fast and the Furballs team, races to the finish line with his Human, Joe. He's the first to cross the finish line ....

while Mister, the other captain of the team, has pretty much had it with running. His Human has to drag him across the finish line. He claims he had a 5 mile warm up which is why he was too tired ... after a goodnight's sleep though he has graciously accepted the fact that Bode is #1, because the reality is, we all finished first ... thanks to everyone for helping make this a success and for helping us raise almost $3,000 which will go directly towards helping homeless dogs and cats.

A special thanks again to Downtown Dogs and Chuck & Don's, our t-shirt and bandana sponsors!

To view more photos from the event visit our Flickr site.

Last Minute Details

The Fast and the Furballs' first 5K-9 is this Sunday @ 8 AM @ The Depot in Downtown Minneapolis! Here are some of the last minute details you'll need to know.

5K-9 packet pick-up
You can pick up your race packets (t-shirt, flyers, race #, etc) Friday from 11 AM to 4 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 6PM and Sunday starting at 6 AM at The Depot in Minneapolis. If you don't want to run/walk with your goodies or don't have someone to hang on to them during the event, be sure to pick-up your packet early.

Fast and the Furballs participant t-shirts
You can pick up your t-shirt on Saturday, May 30th at the Pet Haven adoption event at the Richfield Petco between 10:30 AM and 11:30 AM. If you can't make it to the adoption event on Saturday, please send your t-shirt size to Cheryl @ furballs@pethavenmn.org and your t-shirt will be available on race day.

The 5K-9!
The Fast and the Furballs team will meet near the Stunt Puppy exhibit booth between 7:00 AM and 7:45 AM on Sunday morning. Just look for the flashy Fast and the Furballs orange t-shirts. We'll head to the starting line at 7:45 AM for the 8 AM start. Team Ortho has parking information posted on their site @ http://teamortho.us/Minneapolis_Marathon_Parking. The Depot address is:
The Depot
225 Third Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401

The Minneapolis Marathon and Half Marathon begin at 7:00 AM - there will be lots of activity starting early in the day, so you shouldn't have a problem finding it once you get close. Also be sure to plan ahead for parking, crowds, etc - there are 1400 participating in the marathon and 2500 in the half marathon, plus the 5K and 5K-9 participants. Car pooling and arriving early are strongly encouraged.

See everyone on Sunday!

Racing to the finish!

Mister (co-captain of Pet Haven's the Fast and the Furballs team) and I decided we needed to get moving on our training. Granted it's not Mister's fault as I've been the slug and have not take him on enough runs. Early yesterday morning Mister said enough is enough, so we set our alarm and met others at the Furballs training run/walk at 8 am yesterday morning. Mister had a chance to loosen up his muscles at the Lake of the Isles dog park before the training run/walk began. He got knocked over a couple times by the big dogs but that certainly didn't stop him. Bjorn (another furballs dog in training) was there to warm up as well. Mister was very excited to wear his bright orange furballs in training bandana! He thinks bright orange makes him look very dapper against his smooth, shiny black coat! :)

We took off for our run a little after 8 am and ran one lap around lake of the isles. Mister does NOT ... i repeat ... does NOT like to be #2. Bjorn took the lead for the first part of the run and Mister just about took my arm off. Fortunately, Bjorn had to take a potty break so that gave us our chance to take the lead. Once we were in the lead, Mister went back to being a perfect running buddy. Then, on the last stretch Bjorn came sneaking up from behind us, my shoelace came untied so we had to stop (much to Mister's dismay!) and Bjorn and his running buddy finished first! Mister gave it his all though, and since i've been somewhat of slug lately, I was huffing and puffing too!

I forgot to bring my camera to the training run so I took photos of Mister when we got home. As you can tell, he was pretty tired after the big workout!

There's still time to join Pet Haven's Fast and Furballs team! Email Cheryl at furballs@pethavenmn.org for more info.

And, of course, please consider making a donation to any one of us running in the team. Visit our Firstgiving site to make a donation!

Group Run/Walk Sunday, May 17th

Join us Sunday, May 17th at 8:00 AM for a Fast and the Furballs group run at Lake of the Isles. Meet at the Lake of the Isles dog park: 2845 E. Lake of the Isles Parkway Minneapolis, MN 55405 (http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=4&parkid=388). We'll start walking/running around Lake of the Isles promptly at 8:00 (don't be late, you might have to run to catch up!). You won't be able to miss our bright orange t-shirts! Hope to see you there!

Many thanks to our t-shirt and bandana sponsors: Chuck and Don's and Downtown Dogs!

Group Run/Walk May 3rd!

Join us Sunday, May 3rd at 8:00 AM for a Fast and the Furballs group run at Lake of the Isles. Meet at the Lake of the Isles dog park: 2845 E. Lake of the Isles Parkway Minneapolis, MN 55405 (http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=4&parkid=388). We'll start walking/running around Lake of the Isles promptly at 8:00 (don't be late, you might have to run to catch up!). You won't be able to miss our bright orange t-shirts! Hope to see you there!

Many thanks to our t-shirt and bandana sponsors: Chuck and Don's and Downtown Dogs!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it SNOW!

I'm Bjorn, one of the members of the Fast and the Furballs training team. A little snow on Sunday morning didn't stop Captain Bode from getting us up early for some "spring" training. That's alright though, it's been a long winter and it felt good to get out and stretch my legs a bit. It really got me in the mood for running and I'm even more excited for the 5K-9 coming up on May 31st!

If you want to train with us, we'll be back at Lake of the Isles on Sunday, April 19th. We meet at the entrance to the Lake of the Isles dog park - I like to do a few warm up laps in the off leash area before I drag my human around the lake (she really needs to do some speed work). Hope to see you there!