A dog named Cactus might win the Marathon des Sables
Cactus the MDS Dog is now considered the favourite to win
We’ve seen it before–a dog finds its way into a half-marathon and ends up running the whole thing. They give it a finisher’s medal. But this is different. It started near the end of the second stage of the 34th Marathon des Sables, when a couple of runners tweeted that a stray male dog had joined them briefly, and then disappeared. Then he came back. He’s now run two stages of the 251K race through the Moroccan Sahara. The runners figured he would give up and go home at some point, but this dog is no quitter. He’s been named Cactus, and now he’s considered the favourite to win.
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Cactus is clearly accustomed to running in the desert, and by all accounts he is very friendly. There are rumours that some French runners plan to adopt him when the race ends this weekend. At least one racer has generously shared her food with him. In a race whose main characteristic the British ultrarunner Damian Hall says is gnawing hunger (it’s a challenge to fill yourself up when you have to carry all of your food), this sounds to us like a pretty big sacrifice.
In a new development on April 11, Karen Hadfield has claimed to be Cactus’s owner (his real name is Diggedy), as you’ll see in the tweet, below. Also, he has been given his own Twitter account.
Here is the story of Cactus the MDS Dog (so far) in social media posts:
RELATED: Dog completes half-marathon in Australian Outback, gets finisher’s medal
https://twitter.com/DogMds/status/1116302506030764033
Cactus the MDS dog ??
A dog who started to follow runners during the second stage of the race. After finishing it, he took the start of the third and the fourth finishing them all.
He has run more than 120 km and is in good shape!
Is treated as a prince here at the camp ? #MDS pic.twitter.com/4VGmwnGSr9— MARATHON DES SABLES (@marathonDsables) April 11, 2019
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwFp0jUghOs/
Cactus the dog got his 34th MDS medal ???☀️
He finished 2 stages and was actually ranked 52 overall in 4:30 in the third stage ??
He should go home to his family tonight or tomorrow ??#MDS2019 #MARATHONDESSABLES #CactusTheMdsDog pic.twitter.com/Y4Si7M5pK1— MARATHON DES SABLES (@marathonDsables) April 9, 2019
EXCLUSIVE – he is a very good boy ? #mdsmedia2019 #mds2019 https://t.co/xiWzbBmbpH
— Susie Chan (@Susie__Chan) April 9, 2019
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwCnhynnmQy/
Welcome to bivouac 3 ?
The MDS’ dog just ran the whole stage 3 and he’s now reached the bivouac!
He is now resting and drinking ?#MDS2019 #MARATHONDESSABLES pic.twitter.com/mXnmxF63pE— MARATHON DES SABLES (@marathonDsables) April 9, 2019
He reached CP3, drank water and rested for a while, and now he’s gone again ?
How should we name him?#MDS2019 #MARATHONDESSABLES pic.twitter.com/qSeNcbxPIW— MARATHON DES SABLES (@marathonDsables) April 9, 2019
The dog is about to reach check point 3, around km 30 ?
Come on buddy ?
Runners give him water from times to times ?
Still first of the dog category ?#MDS2019 #MARATHONDESSABLES pic.twitter.com/l5vilwm5lc— MARATHON DES SABLES (@marathonDsables) April 9, 2019
A dog followed runners at the end of stage 2 and he keeps following them during this stage. Now more than 10,7 km in the race, and he’s first of his category!#MDS2019 #MARATHONDESSABLES pic.twitter.com/QP3Iksk5UV
— MARATHON DES SABLES (@marathonDsables) April 9, 2019
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