This was a ruff race for the human runners involved. During a high school track meet in Utah earlier in April, an unusual competitor took the track to compete. A dog got away from their owner in the stands during the event and began heading towards Logan High senior runner Gracie Laney, who had a significant lead in the second heat of the girls' 4x200 relay at the Grizzly Invitational.
Despite Laney's comfortable lead against her fellow humans, the dog, named Holly, beat her to the finish line.
Laney has a great description of the interruption by the furry friend, via The Salt Lake Tribune:
"I'd say probably about the 50-meters [mark], I could feel something coming on me, and I thought it was a person. I thought it was the runner. And then I kind of realized that it was really small. After watching the video, I thought, 'Holy cow, that dog is so fast.' So I thought it was kind of funny I got beat by a dog."
Someone be sure to add Holly as the official winner of the event, because here's video proof of her victory:
Laney added that, at first, seeing the dog racing after her gave her some concern -- mostly because she didn't step on the pup with her spiked shoes. She said she did catch the leash, but did not step on the dog.
Naturally, the crowd on hand went wild when they saw the dog join the event and at first Laney thought they were cheering for her. She realized afterwards that it was actually Holly they were shouting about, not the actual action from the event.
The high schooler said her big regret of the day was not meeting the dog or its owners. "Looking back, I really wish I had gotten a selfie or something with it," Laney said.
We need a reunion between Holly and Gracie.
