Dion Leonard: The Runner Whose Soulmate Was a Stray Dog in the Gobi Desert

A tiny stray dog showed up at the start line of a 155-mile ultramarathon across China's Gobi Desert in June 2016. By the end of the week, she'd run 77 miles alongside British runner Dion Leonard, crossed a river to stay with him, and changed his life forever.

Leonard, an Australian-born endurance athlete living in Edinburgh, didn't plan on adopting a dog in the middle of a desert. He was there to compete in the Gobi March, a grueling seven-day stage race through one of the most inhospitable landscapes on Earth.

A Running Partner Nobody Expected

The dog first appeared on Day 2 of the race, trotting alongside Leonard at the front of the pack. She was small — barely knee-high — but kept pace with elite ultramarathon runners across rocky terrain and sand dunes.

By Day 3, she'd completed a 26-mile stage and earned the name Gobi, after the desert itself. Leonard started sharing his food and water with her, and she slept in his tent at night.

Race organizers pulled her from Stages 4 and 5 when temperatures soared past 52°C (125°F). But Gobi was back for the final 8-mile stage, crossing the finish line at Leonard's feet. He'd placed second overall, but Gobi had stolen the show.

The Disappearance

Leonard launched a crowdfunding campaign to bring Gobi to Edinburgh. He'd hoped to raise £5,000 for the quarantine and transport costs. Donations poured in — the campaign raised over £38,000 — and the extra funds were pledged to stray dog welfare organizations.

But before the paperwork could be completed, disaster struck. Leonard had left Gobi in the care of race organizers in Ürümqi while he returned to Scotland. Then the call came: Gobi had gone missing in the sprawling city of three million people.

The Search That Gripped the Internet

Leonard flew straight back to China. With 20 volunteers combing the streets of Ürümqi, the search stretched on for days that turned into weeks. Social media followers around the world tracked every update, sharing photos of the small sandy-colored dog.

After roughly two weeks, they found her. Gobi had a deep gash on her head and was limping, but she was alive. When Leonard knelt down, she ran straight to him — as if she'd been waiting all along.

From the Gobi Desert to Edinburgh

The journey home took months of quarantine and bureaucratic hurdles. But in early 2017, Gobi finally touched down in the UK and settled into her new life with Leonard and his wife Lucja in Edinburgh.

Leonard wrote a book about the experience called Finding Gobi, published by HarperCollins in June 2017. It became a New York Times bestseller. The story was optioned for a film, and Gobi became something of a celebrity, with her own social media following.

Leonard still runs ultramarathons. But these days, his best race story isn't about a finish time or a podium — it's about a dog who chose him in the middle of a desert and refused to let go.