Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Hound dog goes for walk and finishes seventh in half-marathon (PHOTOS)

An Alabama hound dog turned doing her business into an hour-and-a-half chore — and even got a medal for it.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Ludivine snuck out of her backyard and made her way unnoticed to the starting area of the Trackless Train Trek Half Marathon in Elkmont, Alabama, about a quarter mile away from her home on Saturday.

And the unregistered runner kept up with the pack, finishing the race in seventh place. 


The dog, without her owner's knowledge, mingled with the participants at the start before keeping pace and finishing the entire 13.1-mile race. 

Ludivine crossed the finish line in an unofficial time of 1:32:56, placing seventh overall in the race. 


The floppy-eared pooch's owner, April Hamlin, told Runner's World that all she did was open the door and Ludivine — who is prone to roaming the woods and local town — ended up running the race "on her own accord."

Hamlin was able to watch the action as it unfolded because she received texts and photos from friends volunteering at the race.

And everyone around her farm knows Ludivine.


"My first reaction was that I was embarrassed and worried that she had possibly gotten in the way of the other runners."

The fact that Ludivine ran the entire 13.1 miles was surprising to her owner who said "she’s actually really lazy."

After all, she is a hound dog.

Tim Horvath said he ran most of the race with Ludivine, who kept up with him despite her several stops along the way to sniff out a dead rabbit, mingle with some mules and cows and meet with another dog near the course.

"She would run off to romp through streams and into yards to sniff around for a while," said Jim Clemens, another runner who finished the race in fourth place.


And to think Ludivine was in position to win the race — if only all those critters didn't distract her along the way.

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