It all started with a meatball.

During the 430-mile Adventure Racing World Championship in Ecuador, Swedish teammates were chowing down, trying to refuel for the next ordeal: a muddy 20-mile trek through the Amazon rainforest.

“Mikael Lindnord, the captain of Team Peak Performance, tossed part of his lunch to a thin, scruffy street dog begging for food at his feet — and inadvertently enlisted a fifth team member,” reports PRI.

The dog, which they named Arthur, slogged through the mud with them for many grueling hours traveling 20 miles.

Then, when they were about to start the last leg, a kayak race down the river, and leave Arthur behind, he dove into the water, desperately doggie-paddling to keep up. Despite the danger for them and the dog, Lindnord grabbed Arthur and pulled him onto his kayak.

In a very happy ending, the dog is now in Sweden, adopted by the team’s captain.

(READ the story or LISTEN to an interview on Public Radio’s The World)

Story tip from Mari-Anna Reiljan-Dillon