Runner’s best friend: Kelly Vosburg and Bobby

Many students will say that studying abroad is amazing experience. At times though, it can seem like you’re lost in a sea of unfamiliar faces. What better way to counteract that feeling than adopting your own furry friend? At least, this was Kelly Vosburg’s thought process when she adopted her Wirehair German Pointer, Bobby, while studying dentistry in Budapest, Hungary.

My beautiful Budapest boy, Bobby #rescuedog #fapf pic.twitter.com/rJP6pyKm34

— Kelly Vosburg (@kvosburg1) November 17, 2013

She used a student run organization, called the Foundation of Animal Protection in Fuzesabony, that works to find street dogs new homes to link her up with Bobby, a high energy pup. “I wasn’t running that much before I got him, but then with juggling school, a dog and trying to fit in my own exercise, it just seemed logical to combine the latter two by running together,” Vosburg says.

My little buddy thanks to #FAPF Hungary for saving his life #bobby pic.twitter.com/KuNNz1x5 — Kelly Vosburg (@kvosburg1) October 10, 2012

They started out with easy 5Ks, but gradually started to go longer. “Bobby turned out to be such a great motivator that I went from barely finishing a 5K to training and completing my first half-marathon in the spring of 2015,” Vosburg says. She completed the T-Mobile Half Marathon in Budapest.

There’s only one problem with running with Bobby, and it isn’t a big one: “He’s so friendly that if we make eye contact with anyone while we’re out on a run, we have no choice but to go over and say hello,” Vosburg explains, “He’s also really freaked out by skateboards. It’s not so much of a problem now that we’re living in Sarnia, but when we were in Budapest they were hard to avoid.”

Bobby has more than just running Ks under his belt. He is a well-travelled pooch, having made a couple airplane trips in his multi-lingual marked kennel.

#canadacountdown 3 days! Bobby’s kennel is ready to go! pic.twitter.com/bFHaYf70Ph

— Kelly Vosburg (@kvosburg1) June 2, 2013

Kelly and Bobby now run the city park trails and waterfront paths of Sarnia together two or three times a week, rather than the city streets of Budapest, but the connection is still the same. “It’s just this great feeling knowing that you’re out doing something that’s good for him and good for me,” Vosburg says. “He’s the best company when I’m running.”