Page 12 - Chiron Autumn 2017

10 CHIRON CALLING
On Tuesday 22nd of August, the Defence Animal Training Regiment Biathlon Team consisting of SSgt Martin who was team Coach, Cpl Hewitt the 2IC, Cpl Webb, Pte Parker Kiamil and myself all set out on a long journey to take part in the 26th International Holland Dog Biathlon. We loaded our MWDs Jess, Anouk, Jamie and Chica onto the vehicle and the 10 hour journey began arriving at Wolsencroft air base early evening where we were met by the liaison of cer, Sjon. Sjon escorted us to the cook house where the hospitality was second to none; they had even kept the dining facility open for our team to get some well-deserved food after our lengthy drive.
The next day we headed off to the Biathlon brie ng room to nd out the plan for the competition on the following day. The co-ordinators briefed all the competitors on the events of the biathlon, including the route to be taken, the countries that had entered and most importantly the obstacles that were going to be located around the gruelling course. The nal point of the brief was to tell the competitors their start times. Once the brief had nished, under the direction of SSgt Daniel Martin, the team headed off to get in some last minute practice. We particularly focused on the nal obstacle which required the protection team to dive into a tank of water, swim to the other side, get out and release the MWD onto a decoy at the other side.
The morning of the big day arrived, Thursday 24th August 2017, and the whole team were up bright and early. As soon as we had walked our dogs we headed off for a much needed breakfast. I, with my MWD Jamie, was the rst to set off out of the team followed by Cpl Hewitt then Pte Parker Kiamil and nally Cpl Webb. SSgt Martin saw us all start and ran round the rst few obstacles to encourage us on and take some photos - after tackling that four times he may as well have ran the course himself! The rst obstacle was 400 metres around a track riding a Danish bike, with everyone watching and no brakes! This was probably one of the hardest tests: to fall here in front of everyone would be humiliating to say the least. Each competitor set off two minutes apart and by the 4th obstacle I had already over taken the competitor ahead of me. I was then all on my own for the next eight miles. The other members of the team got ready for their start times, receiving some last minute words of encouragement from the team coach SSgt Martin.
The gruelling course was over eight miles long and consisted of over 20 obstacles, taking most competitors over an hour to nish. The obstacles I faced varied and MWD Jamie and I found ourselves swimming through water, climbing under nets, wading through muddy trenches and climbing up hills that seem to last forever. I eventually, in around 1 hour 10 minutes, made it to the last obstacle. Once the nish line was in sight I ran around the corner to see SSgt Martin eagerly waiting for me ready to motivate me with words of encouragement. As I got closer he shouted “Hurry the hell up one more obstacle to go. ” With those inspiring words, I picked up MWD Jamie and jumped into the tank of water. After almost drowning I could hear the cheers from the crowd which motivated me to push my dog out of the water and as I climbed out she bounded off toward the decoy and took the bite. With my
Cpl Hewitt & MWD Chica, Cpl Webb & MWD Jess, SSgt Martin, LCpl Wood & MWD Jamie, Pte Parker Kiamil & MWD Anouk
ears still full of water, I ran down towards Jaime encouraged her to leave the decoy, picked up the lead and carried on the last few metres toward the nish line. I was nally nished and both of us were absolutely exhausted! Whilst I was running the course Cpl Hewitt and Pte Parker Kiamil had both set off and again with a great start they tackled the obstacles with grit and determination - they had no idea what was in store for them and I knew they were not going to like it! Both ran well and SSgt Martin and I were both there to see them complete the nal water crossing and bite obstacle. It has to be said the MWDs were excellent and even after a gruelling course all dogs piled in on the decoy and left them on command to nish the race. Once over the nish line both Cpl James and Pte Parker Kiamil fell to their knees, extremely pleased the course was nished.
The nal member of the team was Cpl Webb with MWD Jess. We all had the chance to cheer her off as her start time was not until the afternoon. Unfortunately for her, the weather was glorious making it dif cult running conditions. Cpl Webb and MWD Jess ran well, supported by SSgt Martin, completing the obstacles in good time, including one of the nal obstacles where they had to make their way into the back of two trucks and out of the other side. After watching them complete this obstacle, we all moved to the nish to make sure we were there for when she crossed the line. With all members nished we were pleased that the team had done so well. All that was left was for us to get into our best dress and attend the prize giving ceremony.
The team did really well nishing 7th out of 13 - a respectable position considering we were competing against countries that train all year round and attend a number of these competitions. To her own amazement, Cpl Webb came in rst place in the ‘female search’ category to win the gold medal. She was also 3rd fastest female out of 19. Once a few pictures had been taken and the awards had all been given out, the team headed back to change before joining all theother competitors for some well-deserved food and drink in a cook-it-yourself BBQ. The following day with sore legs we began the return journey, re ecting on a very good team effort on what was a fantastic experience for all.
HOLLAND K9 BIATHLON
By LCpl Anthony Wood
Pte Parker Kiamil & MWD Anouk Cpl Hewitt & MWD Chica
LCpl Wood & MWD Jamie Cpl Jessica Webb & MWD Jess