Stray Dog Follows Swedish Racing Team Through Ecuador

Mikael Lindnord, the captain of a Swedish adventure racing team, thought his grueling 700 kilometer trek would be just like any other. That was until he gave a meatball to a stray dog.

Adventure racing, if you’ve never heard of it, is cross-country racing where teams of four run, kayak, or bike through rough jungles, mountains, or glaciers — all while remaining within five meters of each other. It can be impossibly hard for a human body to endure these harsh conditions, but for a dog named Arthur, giving up was not an option.

After Lindnord gave the adventure-racing stray dog a snack, he continued to follow the team for the last 180 kilometers of their journey, all while suffering from bad wounds on his back. Lindnord, at first annoyed that Arthur was slowing down his team, realized that Arthur wouldn’t have traveled all this way unless he needed him.

“It sounds crazy, but somewhere along the way I’d decided that he and I were going to stick together,” Lindnord told The Daily Telegraph.

The team placed 12th, but it gained a fifth member in the process. Lindnord immediately decided to adopt Arthur — named after King Arthur — and bring him to Sweden. After several failed attempts to bring the dog into Sweden, Lindnord and Arthur were allowed to fly together.

After their long journey through the jungle, Lindnord is proud to have Arthur as a member of the family.

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