By HPRS Owner and RD John Lacroix

Some of the more divisive policies of any race or race series, are policies focusing on dogs. In this article, I’m going to tell you the story that explains why dogs are not allowed at HPRS events. I’m even going to expand on the story to include the tale about why it states “Seriously though, don’t bring your cat” in our pre-race informational emails. Yes, this is one of those stories where we learn that a few bad apples ruined it for everyone else and I hope will clarify why dogs are not allowed at any HPRS event.

The Human Potential Running Series was started in March 2014. We hosted our first ever race in September of that same year, followed by our second in November. We started with those 2 events in 2014 and expanded to five total events the next year with our three new events in Fairplay. We didn’t start out large, we started small, and just as we do today we relied heavily on the volunteerism of our entire community of runners to be able to host successful events.

To start, I don’t really know how else to word this paragraph other than to just shoot straight from the hip. To be fair, this is only my side of the story and not inclusive of the other side. During the early years at HPRS, there was a sort of “Inner Circle” of individuals who surrounded themselves around me. At the time, I truly felt that most of their intentions were altruistic in nature, and that they truly sought to help HPRS grow into what it was to eventually become. In hindsight, I can see that for some of them their intentions were mostly self-serving, undermining, and ego/status driven. They didn’t care if HPRS grew or not, they only truly cared about their own status within the community I had worked tirelessly to build and their own level of self-importance. Essentially, they created their own clique within our community and followed their own set of rules. It’s important to state this because it helps paint an accurate picture of the lack of “give-a-shit” these folks had if I been sued because of their dog’s behavior.

It was 2016 when a handful of the individuals in that inner circle volunteered at the Horseshoe Aid Station for the South Park Trail Marathon and Half in June. What occurred on that day played a huge role in several cultural changes within HPRS. It was also the catalyst for why these individuals would eventually leave or be banned from the HPRS community, and ultimately ignited a time of “bad blood” that would eventually lead to that petition some of you may recall from 2019. Here’s the story.

The Horseshoe Aid Station location is a pivotal control point for both the South Park Trail Runs and The Sheep Mountain Ultras. In 2016, South Park was held in June and Sheep Mountain in July. Two months, two races, same aid station. For the June event, members of that inner circle took on volunteer roles as aid station captain and support staff at the Horseshoe aid station.

By 11am on race morning, one of those individuals had drunk so much alcohol that he was already blacked out. He wasn’t passed out in his car, in a tent, or a camper. No, he was passed out at the edge of the woods very near to where runners would enter the aid station from. The United States Forest Service (USFS) permitting ranger arrived at the aid station to conduct a site inspection that morning. These inspections are a vital part in ensuring permit compliance. The ranger noticed the beyond-intoxicated volunteer in the woods, and he dinged us demerits on our permit report card.

Having an aid station volunteer, who is a part of your risk management plan to ensure runner safety, passed out drunk in the woods isn’t a good look. It’s part of the reason why we have a prohibition clause in all our permits to this day. When I returned to the aid station location at 6:30pm, long after the last runners had gone through and the race had ended, this individual emerged from the back of his Mazda with no recollection of how he even got back in there. He embarrassed himself, and HPRS, and is a large part of the reason why alcohol is prohibited at our events. But this story is about dogs, isn’t it? I mention this part of the story so that you can start to understand the type of laze faire approach this crew had in their roles as volunteers.

A handful of other individuals, and/or their families, were volunteering at the same aid station as well. One of those individuals, the aid captain, brought her two dachshunds to the race and provided the dogs with a small fenced in play area via a portable doggy play pen. She also took charge of watching her boyfriend’s dog while the boyfriend ran in the race. His dog was not on a leash or penned up and was allowed to roam free within the aid station locale. She brought one of her best friends with her to the race, who also brought her giant white dog who was also off leash and allowed to roam free at the station.

Also present was the family of my web developer (at the time), his wife and six-year-old daughter and their small dog. Finally, the boyfriend of a female runner (who was also part of this inner circle) was volunteering at the station as well, and he brought his big black dog who was also allowed to roam free and off leash. One aid station, six adults (one passed out), six dogs.

At one point during the morning, the aid captain’s boyfriend’s dog viciously attacked the small dog of our web developer. It is to my understanding (as I wasn’t there), that the dogs really got into it with both dogs attacking one another viciously enough to cause audible yelping. The six-year-old daughter stepped in-between the two dogs to try and break up the fight. Her dog was her best friend, and she was terrified of her companion being injured or killed. Personally, I truly felt that it should have been the adults separating the dogs from fighting and not a child. I’m sure some of you may agree, yet ultimately, it was the child who ended the fight.

After the completion of the race, I received an email from my web developer explaining his family’s side of events from that aid station. He made it very clear to me that “I support you and your business, I love running with you and am proud to help with developing your website; but if my daughter had been injured because of this dog fight, I would have sued the shit out of you without question. I don’t care if we’re friends, colleagues, partners or other and I know for a fact that HPRS would go out of business should you be sued. So, something to think about.”

It was indeed something to think about. Especially since that wasn’t the only dog fight of the day. The same dog, the boyfriend’s dog of the aid captain, got into a second dog fight in the afternoon, this time with one of the other volunteer’s dogs. That fight ended up being much worse, as this dog would cut open the skin of the other dog he was fighting with. The injured dog’s owner had to literally super glue the wounds shut, to stop the bleeding enough to rush his dog to the emergency vet clinic almost 2 hours away in Castle Rock.

This raised several questions for me as a business owner and race director. I want to be clear that in my job at the helm of HPRS, these two roles are tied together, but also not. I am a race director, and I am also a business owner. The questions I had were: Why were only the dachshunds leashed/penned up but the other dogs not? Why was the child stepping in to break up a dog fight, but the adults were not? Why was one of the dogs in the first fight, not secured in such a way to prevent a second dog fight… on the same day?! Why was a volunteer who was supposed to be helping runners, black out drunk in the woods?!

As a first-time small business owner, I was pissed. I was pissed because I felt that these individuals who were supposed to be my “friends” and biggest supporters didn’t seem to care at all about the future preservation of the series or the survival of my business. They weren’t thinking about the possibility of my being sued, nor did they care if I or HPRS had been sued or not. I immediately wrote every person in my inner circle, who regularly brought their dogs to our events, an email informing them that dogs were hereby banned from all HPRS events moving forward. I included a detailed explanation as to why, which was pretty much a detailed incident report of what transpired at that aid station on that day. It also included an honest sharing of how hurt my feelings were, and how incredibly insulted I was that none of them were at all thinking about the bigger picture at play, my livelihood, and the future of HPRS.

None of those individuals wrote back. The main aid captain who oversaw that aid station decided to not respond to me directly, but instead decided to stop volunteering at our races. She also chose to express to others that she “was done” because I had made an example out of her and the situation. I can admit that my communication in the moment wasn’t the best option available, and that I was probably a lot more direct and blunt in that communication than others may have preferred or are used to; but I honestly had to do something in order to protect the future preservation of the series and I was beyond upset. I hoped I would have earned some grace.  

Over the months and years that have followed individuals continued to bring their dogs to our and other’s events. I can recall a few more stories vital to the decision to ban dogs and keep that decision intact.

That same year while running in the Never Summer 100k hosted by GNAR Runners, I was at one of their aid stations when a volunteer’s dog, who was leashed, circled around, and ate food scraps dropped by runners onto the ground. Round and round this dog went, and I had no idea until I went to move from the aid table. My legs were completely wrapped up by the dog’s leash. I went to move away from the table and was nearly tripped from being hogtied by the leash. I looked up at the dog’s owner and she just said, “Oh he’s friendly, he doesn’t bite.” Great! I didn’t care if he bit or not, I cared that he had me all wrapped up and I could have been injured enough to end my race.

Also that same year, a story came out of Aravaipa in Arizona. At an incredibly remote aid station, someone’s large dog randomly jumped up onto another spectator/crew knocking her over with such force (and in an awkward position) that she broke her femur. Because this occurred at a remote aid station location, race officials had to call in a helicopter to airlift the woman to the nearest medical facility. A helicopter! As a business owner and race director a helicopter is the very last thing I want to call in under any circumstance. This story blew my mind and gave me even more to think about as a business owner, and as a race director.

The following summer at The Sheep Mountain Ultras, I witnessed three different dogs roaming loose at the same Horseshoe aid station despite the fact that dogs had already been banned from our events. One of those dogs went up to the aid station table, on multiple occasions while no one was nearby, and snagged whatever food items were within the reach of the dog’s mouth.

One of the other dogs heard a car starting and got excited. He darted across the field and jumped into the open driver’s side back window. You know the type of dog, thinks it’s time to go for a ride and can’t contain his excitement. Thing is, the dog’s front half made it into the back seat, while his back half still hung out of the window. The dog tried mightily to get itself fully into the backseat by kicking his hind legs furiously. The nails on his back paws scratched the crap out of the door’s exterior, and here’s the kicker… It wasn’t even their dog! This dog had jumped into someones rental car belonging to humans that he didn’t even belong to! Scratched to shit!

From time to time, someone emails me with their interest in volunteering with us. The emails are friendly, but they put me in a difficult and uncomfortable position. They tell me that they have 3 or more people who are willing to come and volunteer with them, but it’ll only happen so long as they can bring their dog along to the race. During these times where I am sometimes desperate for volunteers, I have had to weigh the pros and cons of allowing someone to bring their dog along, if it means that I’ll have bodies out there to serve our runners. I have set strict rules about their dog remaining on leash, and away from any other dog, always. In most cases I have met the dog and have been able to personally verify that the dog is “pretty chill.” If it’s a dog I’ve never met or don’t know, it’s much harder for me to allow the dog’s presence.

At this year’s Cuchara Trail Runs, an HPRS regular had their dog sitter for the weekend of the race fall through. I needed them to help us at the event, so I agreed to allowing them to bring their dog with the usual parameters in place, leashed and away. I knew the dog and knew it was “chill.” This was one of those pros and cons, supply and demand, situations where I needed the help and had to trust that nothing would happen… and then something happened.

Another one of our volunteers came walking out of the ski lodge at the start/finish and walked down between a vehicle and the race trailer. When he emerged from in between the vehicle and the trailer, he spooked the other volunteer’s dog. Even though the dog was leashed, it immediately turned around, jumped at him, and bit the other volunteer, twice, in the thigh. This is one of those moments where I talk like a dad and say, “I wasn’t mad, I was disappointed.” I gave leeway, as I have a few times before, allowing people with a dog who I knew to be chill and generally well behaved to come out and volunteer with the dog in tow. Not only did I get burned for it, but another volunteer did also. This type of thing causes me an incredible amount of stress, simply from the fear of litigation ensuing from something I wasn’t even present for.

If you were a small business owner and you knew that something elevated the risk of you being sued and potentially ending your business, what boundaries might you implement around that thing?

This past winter I took the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Professional Race Director Certification course. In that course it was specifically mentioned that all race directors should ban dogs from their events, because of the increase in risk and liability by having them present. On top of that, I learned that my insurance policies may not cover HPRS if someone, or their animal, is injured due to the actions of another animal. These facts alone have validated my decision to ban dogs from all HPRS events.

What about that cat?!

I started putting in our pre-race emails that dogs are not allowed at HPRS events, but that cats are welcome. Then, a few years ago at the Silverheels 100-Mile, one of our course sweeps was moving from out east to New Mexico. He stopped during his move to help sweep the course of ribbons. The shift he signed up for said that it was an 8-hour shift. It took him and the other volunteer more than 9 hours to sweep the section they took on, and they even missed a few segments.

The volunteer was incredibly irate that it took him an hour and a half longer than planned (I can’t control someone’s pace out there by God). I received an incredibly insulting and angry email the next day, excoriating me for not listing an accurate time frame for course sweeping. I called the other volunteer who was with him, to ask a few questions, and it was then that I discovered this guy had not only told a few lies in his email about the realities of the situation, but that he left his cat locked in his truck the entire time he was out sweeping ribbons. It made me think about why he was angry. Was it because it took longer than he thought it would, or because he left his cat in the hot car the entire time? Who the hell leaves a cat locked in the car?!

Along with your dog, please leave your cat at home.

NOTE: Yes, of course we allow service animals at HPRS events. Service animals typically possess papers that certify the animal is indeed a service animal, the animal wears the appropriate service animal attire, and behaves like the expertly trained service animal that they are. If you’re someone who just needs to run with their dog and your dog is not a certified service animal, I kindly suggest you look into the sport of Canicross (https://canicrossusa.org/), which is the appropriate place for you to run with your animal in trail running events. Heck! You could even start your own canicross event and see what it’s like on the back end of event management yourself.