Leaders of the PACK: People and Animal Cardio Klub

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FEEL LIKE YOU'RE barking up the wrong tree with your current workout? Unleash your inner athlete by running with the PACK and doing something good for your body and soul.

The Washington Humane Society's PACK — that's the People and Animal Cardio Klub — links volunteers with man's best friend to boost everyone's fitness.

Founded last fall by Tiffany Barrow-Rogers, WHS' chief operating officer, and Kevin Simpson, its director of animal training and behavior, PACK meets every other Saturday at 8:15 a.m. to run a scenic 3-mile loop around East Potomac Park's Hains Point. The weather doesn't matter and neither does your fitness level. Volunteers can run, walk, organize or handle water stations.

They came up with the idea after Barrow-Rodgers moved here from New Hampshire, but her usual running partners (that'd be her dogs) took their sweet time coming south. So, she decided to pick a new buddy from the shelter and settled on Spike, a restless pit bull who was becoming belligerent toward his canine counterparts.

After a brisk jog, Spike was a new dog, notes Simpson, who joined them. "Before we were halfway through the run, we noticed that he didn't even care that other dogs were around him," Simpson says. "He was visiting them, sniffing them and being very appropriate."

They realized that acclimating the dogs to people and other animals through the runs would help them to show better when potential parents come calling. Thus, PACK was born.

The hounds aren't the only beneficiaries, though. Beyond cardio, dog lovers get the added happiness of being around and helping pooches.

"I think we all get a lot out of this. It's great interaction," says Dolores Hamilton, a veteran volunteer who struggled to get 6-year-old Snoop, a shepherd mix desperate to dash, to contain his excitement at the Jan. 24 run. "The dogs get a great workout. We get a great workout. Everyone leaves happy and tired."

"I love animals," Erin Winograd says, petting 5-year-old Muneco, a shy mutt sporting the requisite orange "Adopt me" vest and matching collar. "There's obviously a huge homelessness problem for animals and adoptability, so I just wanted to volunteer and see if I can help."

PACK has 30 volunteers, some of whom have adopted their running partners, Barrow-Rogers says. Anyone is welcome to run, but WHS recognizes as official only those who have completed orientation and dog-handling sessions at the shelters before the runs.

On average, WHS houses 25 adoptable pooches, but the size of the PACK varies with the number of people who can chauffeur their furry friends to and from WHS shelters on Georgia Avenue and New York Avenue.

Simpson decides which dogs get to go based on their fitness level and length of time at WHS. Shelter dogs "usually have lots of energy and a lot of time on their paws, so to speak," Simpson says.

See? Sometimes it's not so bad when things go to the dogs. Join the next run, on Feb. 21. (For more details, contact Simpson at Askthetrainer@washhumane.org or 202-723-5730 ext. 122.)

Written by Express contributor Stephanie Kanowitz
Photo courtesy Lawrence Luk