You’ve been training for your marathon for months — restrictive diets, shifts at the gym, no booze. The day finally arrives, and you launch yourself from the start line. Half an hour in, you're overtaken on the inside by a hound dog. This isn't a joke - it actually happened to runners in the Trackless Train Trek Half Marathon in Alabama
According to Today, Ludivine – a two-and-a-half year-old hound who had snuck out of her owner's home when she'd been let out to pee – joined the race and ran the whole 13.1 mile half-marathon. No big deal, but she finished a cool seventh place with a time of 1:32.56.
Ludivine has fast become an internet sensation, with pictures of her ears flapping behind her in the wind rapidly shared across Twitter following the event.
One runner told The Telegraph: “Every time I thought she had dropped off to go back home, I would hear her coming back up to me, and she would race past me, up to the two leaders. She would run off to romp through streams and into yards to sniff around for a while.”
Her owner April Hamlin admitted she was “embarrassed” that her dog may have got in the way of those participating in the race but was pleased that, thanks to Ludivine, “they are getting so much publicity... I think that’s the best part.” Good dog.
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