Mara the Wonder Puppy

Mara the Wonder Puppy joined us for 14 miles
of our long run on February 16, 2014. She is in the middle left
of the photo behind Maureen.

You often hear stories about pets that do amazing things, but I don't recall ever seeing something like that first-hand. Well, not until this past Sunday during our long run getting ready for the Shamrock full marathon on March  16. 

We were scheduled to run 21 or 22 miles that day as part of our marathon training. Although it was in the mid-20's when we started at 6:30am, the conditions were otherwise nice. When we got to about Mile 6, we were greeted by two dogs. One was a mature, white Shepherd mix and the other a cute fluffy Golden Lab puppy that appeared to be about seven months old. They started to run along the side of the road with us. We kept hoping they would turn back, but they continued along undeterred. The puppy seemed to be following the Shepherd (she must know what she's doing), casting a glance backward every so often.

As the distance between their home and our location continued to increase, they showed no interest in turning back. We were worried about them, because there were occasional vehicles and we did not want one of them to be hit. We even tried to call Animal Control, but, on a Sunday morning, no one was picking up the phone. Also, neither of the dogs had any tags that would have allowed us to call their owner. Finally, at about five miles from their home, the Shepherd lost interest and took off after something else. Not the puppy. She continued to be our companion. While we took the occasional drink from a hydration bottle, she stopped, now and again, at a puddle to hydrate herself. I nicknamed her "Mara" (short for Marathon), because she had no quit in her.

We kept an eye on her and made sure she was not in the street. She kept pace with one of our runners, Maureen, who was out for her first 20-mile run. We finally made it back to our starting point with Mara close behind. When Maureen stopped at her car, Mara laid down, completely exhausted. She had completed a 14-mile long run. Maureen scooped her up and put her in the SUV. She was tired, but happy. Maureen returned her to the spot where the dogs had joined us and found the owner. I suspect that Mara spent the better part of the rest of Sunday recovering from her long run.