尋找戈壁：跑者找回在中國超級馬拉松賽中跟隨他的狗 / Finding Gobi：Runner finds the dog that followed him on an ultramarathon in China
◎魏國金
A small stray dog had won hearts all over the world after deciding to follow an Australian runner for several days during an ultramarathon through China’s forbidding Gobi desert.
一隻小流浪狗因在穿越中國險惡戈壁沙漠的超級馬拉松賽中，決意追隨一名澳洲跑者數天，而贏得全球人心。
Dion Leonard fell in love with the dog, named her Gobi and planned to bring her back to his home in Edinburgh, Scotland.
李奧納德愛上這隻狗，將牠取名為戈壁，並計畫帶牠回蘇格蘭愛丁堡的家。
Then, on Aug. 15 , just before she was due to travel to Beijing to enter quarantine, the dog disappeared, scampering out an open door in the Chinese city of Urumqi, where she was being looked after.
然而在8月15日，就在牠預定送往北京，進行隔離檢疫前夕，狗狗不見了。牠衝出烏魯木齊一處敞開的門；牠在該市受照顧。
Leonard flew back to China to look, launching a media and social media campaign and putting posters up all over the city. Volunteers helped him scour Urumqi, asking guards, taxi drivers, cleaners and fruit vendors; and visiting parks and dog shelters.
李奧納德飛回中國尋找牠，他展開媒體與社群媒體行動，在城市各處廣貼海報。義工們幫他跑遍烏魯木齊，詢問警衛、計程車司機、清潔工與水果攤販；並走訪公園與狗狗收容所。
But at the bottom of his heart, Leonard feared it would be a fruitless quest. Then, a Chinese man called：He and his son had seen a small stray dog in a local park. They had brought her home and thought she could be the one.
但內心深處，李奧納德擔心這將是徒勞無功的尋找。接著，一名中國男子致電表示，他與兒子在當地一座公園內見過一隻小流浪狗。他們將牠帶回家，認為牠可能就是戈壁。
"I walked into the room, and I didn’t say a word. Gobi spotted me as soon as I walked in, and she started running toward me. Literally, she was running up my leg and jumping all over me and squealing with delight. It was just mind-blowing to think that we had found her," he said. "It was a miracle."
「我走進房間，沒有開口說話，戈壁在我一進門就發現我，牠跑向我。牠簡直是跑上我的腿，在我身邊跳來跳去，發出高興的叫聲。想到我們能找到牠，情緒就十分激動，」他說，「這是奇蹟。」