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But the tag team pushed through and incredibly retook the lead with only 25 metres left in the leg, Leonard said. He crossed the finish line with Gobi and was able to celebrate the victory with her on stage.

Gobi wouldn’t run for the next two days because temperatures approached 50 C. Some of the competitors had to cool down for hours at checkpoints before rejoining the race. One was even beginning to suffer from heat exhaustion, Leonard said, and those conditions were no place for a stray dog.

Leonard spent most of his time running alone thinking about his new companion and how he could bring her back to Edinburgh. When some of his competitors began to offer him donations to help out, he called his wife and asked about adopting Gobi.

“She was basically like I heard about the dog, I love the dog, bring her home, you two are meant to be together,” he said.

Leonard began the ‘Bring Gobi Home’ campaign on Crowdfunder, looking to raise $8,600 to pay for Gobi’s medical and quarantine fees. Having raised well over his goal, Leonard plans to donate the remaining funds to a dog shelter.

Not much is known about Gobi. Leonard isn’t sure about her breed, but he thinks she’s a mix of Terrier. He often finds himself thinking about her age, but he’s almost certain she can’t be more than two years old. She isn’t clean, she isn’t tidy and there are no signs to make him think that she had a previous owner.

“It would be amazing to read her mind and know where she’s been,” he said.

Gobi is staying with one of Leonard’s friends in China and it should take four months for her to be medically cleared to fly to the U.K. The dog will spend another week in London before being transferred over to Edinburgh. Leonard hopes Gobi will be homeward bound for a holiday reunion.

“It could be early next year,” he said. “But Christmas makes for such a better story.”

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