The Peak Performance adventure racing team from Sweden competed in an adventure race in Ecuador. The team of Staffan, Mikael, Karen, and Simon finished the race in 12th place -pretty good, considering they weren’t used to the altitude- and also came back with a new team member, a dog named Arthur.
The team first encountered Arthur on the muddy trekking – the second last stage. They tried to send him off a few times but he always showed up beside the team again as they made their way through the trekking. In the beginning it went well, but when it became muddy he was having problem and the team had to help Arthur through some of the deepest mud.
Arthur followed the team all the way to TA9 and waited with the team. But then he suddenly got very worried and stressed as he realized the team would get out on the water. The organization gave the advice not to bring dog Arthur out on the last leg – a dog in the kayak didn’t seem like a great idea – and the team was going to follow this advice.
Mike, Simon, Staffan and Karen put their kayaks down in the water and set off, but Arthur refused to be left and started swimming. This was too heartbreaking for the team, and Mikael helped Arthur up in the kayak. This led to standing ovations from everyone on the shore, seeing the five (!) team mates set off.
Later, they revealed that Arthur was their constant companion after they gave him a meatball. Swedish meatballs are powerful stuff. A translation from the group’s Facebook page says they are working to take Arthur home with them to Sweden. -via reddit
(Images credit: Krister Göransson)