Long-distance marathon running is an isolating sport — miles and miles of road ahead and behind, with only a runner’s thoughts to keep him or her company. Unless — if the runner is very lucky — a little stray dog appears out of nowhere and decides the running mission is hers, too.
This is what happened on Day 2 of a marathon long-distance race held in China. The tiny canine made up her mind to keep pace with Australian runner Dion Leonard through the grueling seven-day, 250-kilometer marathon across the Tian Shan mountain range in northwestern China.
The race is known as the “Gobi Desert March” — so Leonard named his new friend Gobi.
Leonard’s original goal was to make it to the finish line as fast as he could, until he was “adopted” by the tiny stray.
The dog became his loyal companion through the desert and up and down mountain passes. It refused to leave his side during the seven-day run.
“I saw her looking up at me on the start line and I thought it was odd a little dog was joining in on the race,” Leonard told LifeZette. “To be honest, I never expected her to keep up and run so many stages of the race with me.”
Gobi is a small dog — but the desert was no match for her affection for her new human. “Gobi has a big heart for a little dog, and those little legs could move pretty quickly,” said Leonard. “Sometimes she was actually waiting for me to catch up to her.” Her breed is unknown, but Leonard said vets guessed she is “a mix of border, a terrier, and chihuahua.”
Soon, it wasn’t about winning but about partnership, as the pair’s story began to go viral around the world. “We were a great team. We had an inseparable bond and trust,” said Leonard. “I took time out of the race to help her across river crossings and sluice gates, which she couldn’t have crossed on her own. The day we won the stage on Day 3 together was one of the happiest days of my life — knowing what we had been through together.”
After completing the race — Leonard and Gobi won second place overall — saying goodbye to his newfound pal was unthinkable. Dion Leonard began his plans to bring Gobi home to Scotland by Christmastime, launching an appeal on Crowdfunder to raise the approximately $6,500 needed to cover the medical and quarantine costs to “Bring Gobi Home.” That’s the name of his Facebook page where he’s sharing updates on Gobi’s progress.
It was on that page last Tuesday that Leonard shared heartbreaking news with fans all over the world: Little Gobi had gone missing in Urumqi, China, during a stop in her four-month quarantine process.
[lz_third_party includes=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2-3Ws5Atyg”]
“I’m simply gutted and heartbroken, but am not going on any type of blame game,” Leonard said. “This has just been an unfortunate incident and everyone has had Gobi’s best interests at heart. People don’t understand the logistics and details involved in this whole situation.”
To help find his beloved dog, Leonard has launched an all-out search. Teams of people in China are looking for Gobi around the clock; flyers posted throughout Urumqi are carrying a $1,300 reward; and an ad’s been posted in a local paper. Leonard said if Gobi is not found when the original fundraising appeal expires, none of the donations will be touched. The page has raised well over what was needed to bring Gobi home.
On Friday he also announced a new campaign to raise funds to broaden the search for Gobi.
“Please share this and thank you for all your thoughts and prayers for Gobi,” he posted Friday with the link. In addition to prayers and good thoughts, Leonard asked anyone touched by the story to spread it, in the hopes of seeing his loyal friend again someday soon.
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“If people can share the information on how Gobi went missing in the Urumqi area of China, that would be a great help,” he told LifeZette. “The Chinese use apps Weibo and WeChat all the time, so anything shared on these social media platforms will raise awareness.”
Over the weekend, Leonard decided to fly to China to look for his loyal friend himself, traveling 8,000 miles to join the search.
“Dion is heading out today to Urumqi to help search for Gobi … Thanks to everyone’s ongoing support, we are hoping and praying for good news,” a post on the “Bring Gobi Home” page said.
A Facebook user echoed what all who have heard the tale of two unlikely friends crossing the desert are feeling.
“Just pledged. Sending prayers. C’mon, Gobi, where are you?”
An Exciting (and Unbelievable) Update
“I needed to come and do it, just to be sure in my own mind I had done it,” Leonard told BBC Radio Five Live about his trip to China. “But realistically, I was dreading having to go back home next week without her.”
But just a few days ago, Leonard got a call: A father and son had seen a small stray dog in a local park in Urumqi, a city of about three million people. The two brought her to their home in case she could be the one, as The Washington Post reported. Leonard was skeptical. There had been several heartbreaking false alarms, and the lighting in the photos the man sent wasn’t good.
“Walking into the room, I was already thinking this isn’t going to be Gobi. I [was] a bit down about the last few days,” he told The Post. “I walked into the room and I didn’t say a word. There were actually about 10 people in the room at this stage.”
“Gobi spotted me as soon as I walked in, and she started running toward me,” said Leonard. “Literally, she was running up my leg and jumping all over me and squealing with delight.”
“It was just mind-blowing to think that we had found her!” he said. “It was a miracle.”
This article has been updated to reflect the latest developments.
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