Running with Dogs 与狗一起跑步

Daily runs can be tough1 for highschool athletes， even for athletes who loveto run. Finding inspiration over summerbreak can be even harder.

In 2016， high school running coachLuis Escobar was brainstorming2 withhis wife when she came up with an idea：get a pack of shelter3 dogs to go out withhis runners.

“The dogs want to go out and run;the kids love dogs， and they loverunning，”said Escobar.

Escobar called an animal shelternearby. The shelter staff gave the highschool athletes tips on how to run withdogs. Then， the students set out on amile-long run with the shelter dogs.

“It was super fun. The kids werehaving a great time， and the dogs werehaving a great time，” said Escobar.“Tails were wagging4， and kids weresmiling.”He took a video of the outingand shared it on social media.

Little did Escobar know that the60-second clip5 would fly across theInternet. The next day， it had hundredsof thousands of views.

It has been nearly eight years sincethat video was posted online. Every sooften， it resurfaces6 on social media andstarts making therounds again.

The shelter dog run hasbecome a regular event. It alsoresulted in some studentsadopting7 dogs.

“Many， many dogs were adopted as aresult of this，”Escobar said. “That is thething that I am probably most proud of.”

Escobar’s idea soon spread toschools around the country. The programhas been on the news.

The shelter sends out dogs with lotsof energy， or those who seem lonely.Regan Blessinger works at a shelter. Shesaid that the dogs spend most of theirtime in a kennel8. They need morephysical and mental stimulation， as wellas social time with other dogs andpeople. “There’s a lot of benefits9， andthe dogs just love it. They getexcited to go，”she said.

The students look forwardto it， too.

Dogsandrunnersarebothexcited.

“It’s really fun，”said a student.“I think it’s really good for our team;it teaches us to care more about othersthan ourselves.”

Escobar said that looking back， heis not surprised his short video hadsuch a positive effect. He said it was60 seconds of real kindness.

“The world needs kindness，”Escobar said.

对于高中运动员来说，即使是喜欢跑步的运动员，每天跑步也很是一件困难的事情。在暑假期间寻找动力可能会更加困难。

2016 年，高中跑步教练路易斯·埃斯科瓦尔与妻子一起讨论时，妻子想出了一个主意：让一群收容所的狗和他的跑步运动员一起出去。

“狗狗们想出去跑步；孩子们喜欢狗，并且他们也喜欢跑步。”埃斯科瓦尔说。

埃斯科瓦尔打电话给附近的一家动物收容所。收容所的工作人员向高中运动员们传授了如何带狗跑步的技巧。然后，学生们带着收容所的狗开始了一英里长跑。

“这非常有趣。孩子们玩得很开心，狗也玩得很开心。”埃斯科瓦尔说，“尾巴在摇，孩子们在笑。”他拍下了这次外出的视频并在社交媒体上分享。

埃斯科瓦尔一点也不知道这段60 秒的视频会传遍网络。第二天，它的浏览量达到了数十万次。

自这段视频发布到网上已经过去了将近八年。每隔一段时间，它就会重新出现在社交媒体上，并开始再次广为流传。

与收容所的狗跑步已经成为一项常规项目。这也促成了一些学生领养狗。

“ 很多很多狗都因此而被领养。”埃斯科瓦尔说，“这可能是我最引以为豪的事情。”

埃斯科瓦尔的想法很快传播到了全国各地的学校。这个项目上了新闻。

收容所会派出精力充沛的狗，或者那些看起来很孤独的狗。里甘·布莱辛格在一家收容所工作。她说，这些狗大部分时间都待在狗窝里。它们需要更多身体和精神上的激励，以及与其他狗和人的社交时间。她说：“这有很多好处，狗狗们都很喜欢。它们因此而兴奋。”

学生们也很期待。

狗狗和跑步者都很兴奋。

“这真的很有趣。”一个学生说，“我认为这对我们的团队来说真的有好处；它教会我们更多地关心他人而不是自己。”

埃斯科瓦尔说，回过头来看，他的短视频能产生如此积极的效果，他并不感到惊讶。他说这是60 秒真正的善意。

“世界需要善良。”埃斯科瓦尔说。

▏Notes

1. tough 困难的，棘手的

2. brainstorm 集思广益

3. shelter （人或动物）收容所

4. wag 摇摆

5. clip 片段

6. resurface 重新露面

7. adopt 收养

8. kennel 狗屋

9. benefit 好处，益处

Discussion 议一议：

1.Doyou like running？ Haveyou run with dogs？ 你喜欢跑步吗？你和狗一起跑过步吗？

2. What do you think of the idea of the shelter dog run？ 你觉得带收容所的狗跑步这个主意怎么样？