Dog Joins Marathon In The Sahara Desert And Races For 140 Miles

The Marathon des Sable is a seven-day event held in the Sahara that consists of six individual marathons, one for each day of the week.

The “Cactus Dog” canine made an appearance on Day 2 of the 6-day race and continued racing throughout, shocking the competitors. Sadly, he was ineligible for the overall victory because he entered the race after the first leg. After stage 2, a dog followed runners, and he is still doing so in this stage. He’s leading his category with more than 10.7 kilometers remaining in the race, the race’s official Twitter account said.

He charmed competitors and race authorities to the point where they gave him a SPOT GPS tracking device and an official race number (000). Along the journey, water and nourishment were provided for the cactus with care. Cactus was included in many racers’ footage from the event.

He also has a personal Twitter account with the handle @DogMds. Cactus had run more than 100 miles by the time he reached the finish line of the last section of the marathon. In addition, he completed the third stage’s 47 miles in a record 11 hours (take that, humans; stages can take up to 31 hours to finish).

Cactus also received a medal for his efforts. In contrast to the now-famous Gobi, it turns out that Cactus is not a stray. His mother, Karen Hadfield, owns a guest house in the Moroccan Sahara, therefore Diggedy truly resides in the desert. His real name is Diggedy.

He runs about 25 kilometers a day for leisure, as Hadfield noted on the Marathon de Sables Facebook page. Running is something he does every day. He was perfect for the Marathon Des Sables. In the race, Hadfield picked him up at the finish line and reported that he was “having the greatest time.”

We’re fairly confident that he’ll be up for the challenge the next year, so runners, prepare for some serious canine competition.

This amusing video shows the adventures of “Cactus.”