One of our pawsome runners tells all
Dan Hill is returning as a runner for us at Bath Half 2023, so we caught up with him about why he ran for us last year... and what was with the dog costume?!
Dan has affectionately been nicknamed ‘Dan the Dog’ among the BCDH Fundraising team after he wore a wonderful dog costume at the October 2022 Bath Half Marathon.
“The Bath Half is always a good day out and as I was born in Bath I’ve grown up hearing about the race. I love the fact it always brings the whole city together for the day.”
Dan has run the marathon several times before, but last year he chose Bath Cats and Dogs Home as his charity. He was inspired by his fiancé Kim, whose parents had rehomed a dog from the Home several years ago – gorgeous labrador Darby.
Kim would admit she’s not the biggest fan of long distance running but agreed to run the 2022 Bath Half with Dan on two conditions; he would run with her the whole way and he would wear an animal costume to slow him down. To seal the deal, he agreed to wear a full length dog costume and Kim ran as a cat, donning some snazzy, leopard-print cat ears and her normal running gear. Their outfits attracted a lot of attention from photographers and the crowd as they ran the marathon route.
Photo by Anna Barclay
The race day was a gorgeous sunny day in mid-October and you’d think the dog costume might have been sweltering during the 13.1 miles, but Dan said: “I didn’t really notice the heat in all the excitement of the race, I was glad to run in hot weather rather than in the rain as that would have made my furry, dog costume annoyingly heavy to run in.”
“I loved the camaraderie and banter among the BCDH runners, before the race we all got chatting about our pre-race nerves, our training stories and our hopes of beating our PB’s.
It was great seeing the BCDH volunteers cheering in the crowd as it gave us a real lift and I loved giving them a massive high five as I ran past. Our animal costumes meant we got loads of attention from the spectators. The whole event was brilliantly run and there was a fantastic atmosphere.”
In total Dan and Kim raised an amazing £635 for the rescue centre, way over their £500 target. Well done to them both, the money they raised will go towards the care of our vulnerable rescue dogs and cats at the rescue centre.
October 2023 beckons
On Christmas Day, Dan Hill unwrapped a surprise Christmas present from Kim’s parents, they had bought him a place in the October 2023 Bath Half and also challenged him to run the 13.1mile race in 1 hour and 40 minutes while wearing his signature dog costume.
When asked about the challenge Dan said: “I love a good challenge and I’m happy to have the time of 1hr 40 mins to aim for, at least I know I’ve done the Bath Half in 1hr 29mins in the past [without the costume]. I’m looking forward to training hard this summer to make sure I can improve on my average 7.5 minute mile to beat this challenge, otherwise I’ll never hear the last of it from Kim’s family!”
Photo by Anna Barclay
2023 Bath Half Training
Talking about his training plans for the Bath Half, Dan Hill said: “At the moment my training is fairly low key but I play football and do two runs every week. My training will definitely kick into a higher gear over the summer as we get closer to the race in October.”
We'll be getting to know his training secrets as Dan has kindly agreed to share some stories and photos of his training highlights over the coming months on the exclusive Team BCDH Facebook page. He will be inspiring our other runners to hit their targets and make the best of their day.
Want to join Team BCDH?
If you’d like to take part in the Bath Half and support the animal rescue work of Bath Cats and Dogs Home, you can join either with one of our charity places, or even if you already have one direct from the race organisers.
» Click here to find out more
We will also be needing lots of volunteers on the day, we'll be asking for those in the summer so keep an eye out on our blog or social media.