Dog Sneaks Into North Alabama Half Marathon, Finishes 7th [PHOTOS]

This is the adorable story of determination from a hound dog who accidentally dared to finish a half marathon up in Elkmont, Alabama!

Meet Ludivine a 2 and half year old hound dog who was let out of the house one Saturday morning, and decided to wander from the yard to a nearby race. She not only gave support to the runners at the start line, she joined in to run all 13.1 miles of the course, AND placed 7th with an impressive time of 1:32:56!  This pooch even has a medal to show for it! To think, her owner says she is normally lazy. Ludivine ran a distance humans normally spend months training for, she just did it on a whim.

The dog's owner April Hamlin told Runner’s World, she received texts with photos of Ludivine from friends who were volunteering at the finish. “My first reaction was that I was embarrassed and worried that she had possibly gotten in the way of the other runners.” Apparently, this dog is known for sneaking out the yard and everyone in the small town knows her.  And no, the dog's owner is not a runner, which makes this story that more surprising.

It's one thing to visit the runners, it's another all together to run the whole course! Those competing say the dog was distracted a few times, but never gave up hope of sticking with the leaders of the pack and finishing!

This new half marathon up in Elkmont was designed to help raise some money for the local cross country team, they ended with much more with a celebrity dog to bring lots attention to this event! The name of the race is even changing to honor the hound dog.

If you thought about running our own Tucaloosa Half Marathon on March 5th, this dog should serve as a good dose of inspiration!

Here, take a look at a few photos snapped of Ludivine at the 2016 Elkmont Half Marathon.