A big thanks to Markus M for reminding me of this one. I actually saw it posted online a while back but never got around to trying it myself (no excuse I know).

"If a dog passes you from behind, you can accelerate and follow the dog from then on. This way you have several alternate routes to jog along. Also, along the way there are several depictions of 'Mario' painted on houses and stuff and a rotating yellow 'Bonus Star' on top of a Tree."