GoodSportsGoodSports: Dozer the Marathon Dog Raises $10,000 for Cancer Fight
He ran away from home. He cheated on a half-marathon. He worried people for being unattended. And yet he goes on to raise more than $10,000 to help fight cancer.
What a dog.
You've probably heard the story by now, but of course, when you hear of a goldendoodle running half of a marathon and then raising ten grand to fight cancer because of it, and you run a blog series called GoodSports, you have to write about it. For posterity. Or something.
Anyway, his name's Dozer. He's three years old, or 21 in dog years, putting him right at that still-maybe-rebellious young adult stage of life. If you actually haven't heard the story, here's a quick synopsis: Dozer gets excited by the hordes of runners passing his house for the 13.1-mile race to raise money for the University of Maryland's Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center. He runs out of the yard to join them.
Two hours later, he crosses the finish line.
He returns home the next morning. His owners hear stories of a dog running a marathon. They see video of Dozer crossing the finish line. They contact the race organizers, who give Dozer a medal. Then they have the most genius PR idea ever: They create a Facebook fan page directing people to Dozer's video, create his own fundraising page on the marathon's website, and let the world of doggy lovers go nuts.
Now the fight against cancer is $10,000 richer.
Rumor has it that Dozer's gotten a taste for endurance racing now, and being overambitious, is setting his sights on Ironman Hawaii, trying to become the first canine to complete the thing. He's not yet confirmed how he'll complete the bike portion.
On a related note, I may have begun that rumor myself.
[ Runaway Dog Raises $10,000 to Fight Cancer ]
GoodSports is a collection of stories here at brandonsneed.com highlighting the good given the world through sports. The GoodSports archive can be found here.
Reader Comments (2)
Very entertaining. Thanks for sharing :)
Is that dog awesome, or what?
Thanks for reading!