You may have seen this viral photo of a tiny little dog choosing to accompany a long distance runner, and heard about how it decided to accompany him on a 22 mile leg of a 100 mile race

 

But what you may not have heard is how the story ended, or rather that it isn’t quite over yet.

Dion Leonard, an extreme marathoner from Scotland, was competing in a 6-stage, 7-day race through the Gobi Desert, and it just so happened that a small stray dog who had been living near the starting point had decided to participate as well.

At the end of the first day, the dog had finished the 22-mile stretch alongside the other runners. The next day she decided to run again, this time choosing to remain beside Leonard the whole way. After that, Leonard and the little dog, which he named Gobi, were inseparable for the entire race. By then, Leonard knew that he had to bring Gobi home to Scotland with him.

Knowing this would take a considerable amount of time and paperwork, Leonard left Gobi in the hands of a trusted friend. But soon after he returned to Scotland he received the news Gobi had gone missing, and got back to China to look for her as soon as he could.

Despite the large amount of stray dogs in the area Leonard refused to give up hope, passing out flyers and searching tirelessly for his beloved companion. It wasn’t long before someone recognized Gobi from the flyer, contacted Leonard, and the two were reunited.

 

Leonard told the BBC “When we got there, I walked through the door and she came running towards me and ran around my legs and jumped up on me. It was love again at immediate sight. I’m going to try to do two things tonight: try not to cry and not to swear, I’m so excited. It’s one of the best days of my life.”

It will be quite a while before Gobi is able to make the trip to Scotland, but until then, Leonard has vowed not to leave China until she can go with him. You can follow their story on their Facebook page and even contribute to their crowdfunder, the goal for which has been met, but the site explains that “Leftover funds will be utilised to support other dog charities/shelters details of which are still to be determined.”

 

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