"We thought he deserved a medal since he had done the whole thing," race organizers said.
A stray dog in West Australia has been honored with a medal after stumbling on a half marathon and completing the race against the other runners.
Stormy, a dog locals believe lives around an Aboriginal community nearby, showed up at the Goldfields Pipeline Marathon, which starts at remote location six hours outside of Perth, and socialized with the runners before the race.
“We get the air horn out and say ‘Go,’ and off he goes with everybody,” marathon volunteer Allison Hunter told the Australia Broadcasting Company.
While the pup didn’t take it seriously, spending more time saying hi to fellow competitors and visiting different stations than focusing on the race, officials estimated he finished in about two and a half hours — matching the average time for most runners in the event.
But rangers intervened before Stormy had a chance to claim his spot on the podium, bringing him to a pound, where he can await his owner for seven days before he is put up for adoption.
While many of the runners have already expressed interest in adopting Stormy if no one picks him up, Hunter and race organizer Grant Wholey stopped by the pound to reward the pup with his own medal.
"We thought he deserved a medal since he had done the whole thing," Wholey said.
And while Stormy won’t be racing again — since organizers explained the route was technically an animal-free zone — the pup will be welcome to be a spectator at next year’s half-marathon.
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