The sixth marathoner - story of a dog who ran a marathon

A dog that ran a full marathon

We've read many a time that dogs are man's best friends and this belief was reinforced again yesterday. 

Early yesterday morning, at about 04:40 AM, five of us started to run for a full marathon (42.2 kilometers). All of a sudden, we found that a dog joined us from nowhere.

 

We thought that she would go away shortly but to our surprise, she didn't. She ran with us, ahead of us and behind us but she was there all along. 

The darkness of the early morning gave way to the Sunrise and then the daylight took its full effect. We didn't stop for a break until 11 kilometers. The 🐕 was there with us all along. It so became that we had to protect her from other dogs as we crossed one place and went to the other, for dogs are very protective of their territories. 

We found that we weren't carrying any biscuits with us. Meanwhile, we started offering her water in a water bottle lid. We didn't have any shop enroute as we were running on the service road around the ORR. Finally at the 17th kilometer mark, we hit the Vijayawada highway. It was then that our crew found biscuits for the dog and they fed her. She started enjoying the biscuits. 

And then shortly, we finished the half marathon (21.1 kilometers). 

We then started to tread our way back to the start point. After about 32 kilometers, the 🐕 started to feel the heat. It got sunny and she started to wag its tongue as she ran past us. She took shelter from the sun by sitting under the car wherever we stopped. At a couple of shops enroute, she sipped water that was kept outside.

She was running all around us throughout the distance. It was our responsibility to see that she was around us at all times. She ran with each of us and our friends who'd joined us in between for their half marathon. This fellow continued this way for 5 and a half hours. 

We didn't want to lose the track of her else she'd be at the mercy of other 🐕 🐕 🐕. We had to ensure that she was back to her base. And we did that. After the run, we offered her water and biscuits...

Never did I saw anything like this before and it was a great experience running the distance with a 🐕. In the past, we've had dogs accompanying us for a short distance but this was something else. 

After having our breakfast, we went to the place where we'd left her with biscuits and water. But she was nowhere to be found. 

Why did she join us, why did she run the distance with us and how did she went away from there ? We'll not have answers for these questions. All she ensured was that we had a memorable run in which she became the 06th full marathoner yesterday. 

This will stay long with us...

 #HyderabadRunners