Page 83 - RADC Bulletin 2021

SPORT & AT
Canicross
Capt J Milward-Wiffen
Canicross or running with dogs is the sport of running with your dog harnessed. Originating in Europe as off season training for the mushing community, it is becoming increasingly popular and I am one of the converted.
We rescued our dog Ebony in January
last year and after seeing and hearing about canicross I couldn’t wait to get started. It
is advised that you don’t start this sport
until your dog is at least 1 year of age, so
we started out with the basics. DogFit UK
is a hub of knowledge on canicross and
we were soon set up with all the kit ready
to start learning the commands. Ebony
now knows the following commands when harnessed: left, right, whoa, away. After months of waiting, we headed out on our first harnessed run in August 2020 and that’s when the addiction began!
After several months of building up our fitness as a partnership, we joined Wessex Canicross – a local training club. When COVID allowed, we were able to join like- minded people for training runs. The thing that shocked me most was the sheer volume of noise at the start of a run, the dogs are
so excited that they simply can’t contain themselves! Added to that, the variety of dog breeds was rather astounding, any
combination of 2 and 4 legged friends can give this a go!
In January this year I decided we were ready to enter some races! Unfortunately, due to COVID we didn’t end up making it
to our first competition until April, but it was certainly worth the wait! Ebony hadn’t been in a race environment before and was clearly quite anxious, however, as soon as we were through the start, she made it her mission
to get us home quickly. I was absolutely chuffed with a 10km PB of 47 mins 33 seconds and finished 12th. The Canicross
season spans September through May, so as soon our season had started unfortunately
it was over! Our aim is to be competitive at 10 – 15km distances and hopefully get some more medals.
We are entered in to our next race on 2 October 21 – Maverick Adidas Terrex frontier Ox Drove, a 13km run in Salisbury... wish us luck!
If you are interested in Canicross and would like any further information please email me jenna.milward-wiffen147@mod. gov.uk
DEVELOPMENT
Educational Opportunities
Sgt A White
As I approached my last 4 years of service, I decided it was about time I entered
into some education in preparation for undertaking a Practice Managers job in a civilian practice.
I decided to take on the AMSPAR Level 5 diploma in healthcare management online through Cherith Simmons Learning and Development. I started the course back in July 2019; it consisted of 10 modules, an oral presentation and a business case which I delivered in December 2020. I successfully passed the course in February 2021.
I liaised with the Education Centre and used my Enhanced Learning Credits (ELC) to help pay for the course. It was an intense course with quite a heavy workload, so I had to give up some of my own time to complete it. As well as completing this, I had also just
completed my plaque indices course and a CACHE NCFE distance learning course in The Awareness of Mental Health. All of this was completed whilst looking after a 3-year- old and a husband, who is also serving, and working full-time as a Practice Manager of a busy 4 chair dental centre.
Not content with completing these courses alone, this year I decided to embark on a BA (Hons) In Business Management with Lincoln University. This degree course is aimed specifically at military personnel,
it is completed by distance learning over 2 years. Again, I used my remaining ELC to help fund it and the rest I paid in monthly instalments. It has been a steep learning curve, having been used to a military way
of writing for the last 18 years I suddenly had to learn how to write academically. The
tutors have been brilliant, always on hand to answer any questions that I had, as have the other students completing that module. So far, I have completed the first module and I am nervously awaiting the results of that. I will be stating Module 2 in September 2021.
These courses have benefited the service and have developed me as a Practice Manager, time management is a skill that
I have enhanced as well as learning to delegate more and develop my subordinates. I highly recommend people look to complete further education whilst serving, it can be done even if you have a family and other commitments.
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