Runners rarely want to encounter a stray dog on the run. They may be cute, but the lack of tags or an owner can often present problems. In the case of Max, an American Staffordshire Terrier that found his way onto the course of the Nutcracker Endurance Run in Wake Forest, North Carolina, on December 12, concerns arose quickly.
Local police were called when runners first encountered Max during the 12-, 6-, and 3-hour races, but race director Russell Galvan called them off when he met Max at an aid station in Dunn, North Carolina. At that point, he had heard the dog was enthusiastically running alongside runners and was impressed Max had completed about 2 miles of the course.
“People loved him and were offering to take him to a shelter, but at that point he had wandered off, so I headed to another aid station 5 miles away in Irwin, (North Carolina),” Galvan told Runner’s World. “Two hours later, I’m dealing with other issues, and here comes this dog running up to the aid station. No one coerced him; he just started running along with people.”
Relieved that Max turned out to be a welcome sight for runners, Galvan let the dog be. A local runner, Charles Akers, offered to take Max back another 5 miles to Dunn using a leash he had in his truck. In Dunn, he didn’t know what to do with the dog either as the shelter there was closed for the weekend.
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Akers called his wife and asked if they could care for Max until they could drop him off the upcoming Monday. Without a ride back to his car, Akers and Max trotted back the 5 miles they came, giving Max a total of 17 miles, at least, that day.
“This is a dog that probably lived on a chain somewhere that was just so overjoyed to be running with us,” Galvan said. “I saw him at the end of the day, and he was wagging his tail, going up to people. He just loved going running like everyone else.”
Max went to the Wake County Animal Center that Monday where the staff discovered he was microchipped. Using that info, they saw he had been adopted from this shelter last June. Despite numerous attempts to contact the owner, no one returned the call. Max went up for adoption.
“We were just hoping that he would find an appropriate home that appreciates his athleticism,” Jennifer Federico, director of the Wake County Animal Center, told Runner’s World. “For Staffordshire Terriers, they can be super couch potatoes or super athletes. This dog can run like nobody’s business.”
His first stay in June had him there a month, but this time, he gained notoriety. Tales of his running prowess spread across social media, and that’s when Wake Forest native Chad Duffy found him. He had lost his American Bulldog after 14 years in August, and when he heard about a dog that could run, he was intrigued.
Duffy, a triathlete, wanted a running partner, and reached out to see if Max was available. At the time, Max was technically unavailable because of mandatory five-day grace period for the owner to respond.
When five days were up, Max came home with Duffy on December 19 to his wife, two daughters, and two Yorkies.
Duffy says Max is settling in well. He still has a ways to go when it comes to running with someone, but Duffy is happy with the four-legged company so far.
“He has a lot of energy,” Duffy told Runner’s World. “I haven’t quite gotten 15 miles out of him yet because he’s not versed in running with a partner. He’s comfortable stopping at every mailbox and flower to sniff. We go our for a few miles everyday, and we’re working on it.”
Drew covers a variety of subjects for Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness, gear, and fitness for the brand. His work has previously been published in Men’s Health.
