A canine crumb from Thailand

It happened in January, when 43-year-old Khemjira Klongsanun was seven miles into a marathon in western Thailand. She saw runners ahead of her side-stepping something in the middle of the road. It turned out to be a puppy. There were no houses or dogs near, so she knew the pup was lost or abandoned. Instead of running around it like the others, she scooped it up and ran with it for 19 miles.

A puppy might not seem like much to carry, but two or three pounds at the start feels pretty heavy after a while. She says it made the marathon twice as hard, but the puppy was too cute to leave behind. After the marathon, she tried to find the owner, but no one came forward, so she took the puppy to vet, got him vaccinated, and ended up adopting him. She named him Chombueng, the name of the area where the marathon was held.