Dean faces a ruff race (From Swindon Advertiser)

Dean faces a ruff race

8:20am Wednesday 19th September 2012 in News

Honda worker Dean Arnold will be raising eyebrows as well as cash for charity when he tackles the Swindon Half Marathon – dressed as a dog.

The dad-of-four, of Eldene , hopes to run the 13.1 miles in under 2.5 hours on October 14 for Swindon Guide Dogs.

Dean, 38, whose wife Amanda, 43, is a puppywalker, has run the race twice before for Swindon Guide Dogs, but agreed to don the wacky costume this autumn after achieving his ambition last year to complete the race within two hours.

He said: “Last year I did quite well in the half marathon and hit the two hour target, so straight away, as soon as I finished it, the kids said ‘Next year you can do it more on the fun side of it rather than the serious side of it’ because I completed my goal.

“I said ‘Okay, what do you want me to do’, and they said ‘Dress up’, so I said ‘Okay’. And if I had left it down to them, they would probably have had me dressed as a fairy.

“But after last year’s half marathon, things progressed with my wife becoming a puppywalker and in February of this year we got our first guide dog puppy, Imogen, so it just seemed right to get hold of a dog costume and run in it, as again I will be trying to raise money for Swindon Guide Dogs.”

Dean started running in 2009 to help give up smoking when Honda had its four-month shut down. His first half-marathon was Reading in 2010.

Dean said training this year had been slightly delayed, because he cracked a rib in a bicycle accident on holiday, but he was hopeful of completing the course within 2.5 hours. He said the main challenge in relation to running in the full-body costume would be the heat.

“I attended the Swindon Mela recently in it and I did a few hours up there and stood in it,” said Dean, whose wife and children will be doing the two-mile fun run.

“It’s not a hugely thick dog costume, but while I’m used to running with shorts and a T-shirt on, I will have the shorts and T-shirt under the dog costume and a guide dogs vest over that as well. So I’m hoping it’s going to be quite a cold day.”

Sponsor Dean at www.justgiving.com/Dean-Arnold