Finding Gobi: The true story of a little dog and an incredible journey – Dion Leonard
Dion Leonard’s Finding Gobi is the typical boy finds dog, boy loses dog, boy searches for dog, ultimately finds him and brings him home. Only the boy is an ultra- marathoner who races in some of the most grueling races around the globe. And it was at one of those races that Leonard found Gobi. The race was a grueling seven-day 155 mile run that crosses the China’s Gobi Desert.
Gobi and Dion Leonard Meet
Actually, I guess it’s more correct to say Gobi found Leonard. That’s because at the start of the initial stage of the race, little Gobi started attacking The shoe covers Leonard had on his running shoes. The covers were in place because during the first part of the race, the runners would be going up a sand dune! Anyway, as the race started Gobi started running too and stayed by Leonard’s side through the whole 26.2 miles! That night Gobi slept in Leonard’s tent.
The following morning Leonard and Gobi set off again on the next leg of the race. All and all Gobi stayed by Leonard’s side through three marathons! Of course there were a couple of times that Dion had to carry Gobi.
When it came to cross the scorching black sands of the desert, which was virtually devoid of life, Leonard knew that he could risk allowing Gobi to run. So Gobi moved ahead with the race official and met Leonard at the finish line.
Bringing Gobi Home
When the race ended Leonard couldn’t imagine leaving Gobi behind. But bringing a dog out of China and into the United Kingdom (the Leonards live in Edinburgh, Scotland) proved to be quite a challenge. The cost in money and time was going to be much higher than anticipated. Ultimately bringing Gobi home would require crowdfunding and a six month sabbatical for Leonard.
Additionally, after Leonard returned home to begin the arrangements for bringing Gobi to Scotland Gobi went missing. So Leonard went back to China to join in the search!
Bottom Line
Finding Gobi is a great book on many levels. If you are a runner you can enjoy Leonard’s description of the Gobi Desert race,as well as, past races. However, Finding Gobi is also about the impact that an animal can have on a person‘s life
At first saving a little orphaned dog he had named Gobi seemed like the right thing to do for Gobi. But eventually it was an even better thing to do for Dion Leonard.
So check it out!
Goodreads Rating:4.11. My Rating : 4.0*
*Really,really liked it!
Links for the Further Exploration of Gobi
Wikipedia
FindingGobi.com
Facebook: Dion Leonard
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Goodreads
Book 57 on a goal of 60 books read in 2017!