Running with Dogs 與狗一起跑步

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.

對于高中運動員來說，即使是喜歡跑步的運動員，每天跑步也很是一件困難的事情。在暑假期間尋找動力可能會更加困難。

2016 年，高中跑步教練路易斯·埃斯科瓦爾與妻子一起討論時，妻子想出了一個主意：讓一群收容所的狗和他的跑步運動員一起出去。

“狗狗們想出去跑步；孩子們喜歡狗，并且他們也喜歡跑步。”埃斯科瓦爾說。

埃斯科瓦爾打電話給附近的一家動物收容所。收容所的工作人員向高中運動員們傳授了如何帶狗跑步的技巧。然后，學生們帶著收容所的狗開始了一英里長跑。

“這非常有趣。孩子們玩得很開心，狗也玩得很開心。”埃斯科瓦爾說，“尾巴在搖，孩子們在笑。”他拍下了這次外出的視頻并在社交媒體上分享。

埃斯科瓦爾一點也不知道這段60 秒的視頻會傳遍網絡。第二天，它的瀏覽量達到了數十萬次。

自這段視頻發布到網上已經過去了將近八年。每隔一段時間，它就會重新出現在社交媒體上，并開始再次廣為流傳。

與收容所的狗跑步已經成為一項常規項目。這也促成了一些學生領養狗。

“ 很多很多狗都因此而被領養。”埃斯科瓦爾說，“這可能是我最引以為豪的事情。”

埃斯科瓦爾的想法很快傳播到了全國各地的學校。這個項目上了新聞。

收容所會派出精力充沛的狗，或者那些看起來很孤獨的狗。里甘·布萊辛格在一家收容所工作。她說，這些狗大部分時間都待在狗窩里。它們需要更多身體和精神上的激勵，以及與其他狗和人的社交時間。她說：“這有很多好處，狗狗們都很喜歡。它們因此而興奮。”

學生們也很期待。

狗狗和跑步者都很興奮。

“這真的很有趣。”一個學生說，“我認為這對我們的團隊來說真的有好處；它教會我們更多地關心他人而不是自己。”

埃斯科瓦爾說，回過頭來看，他的短視頻能產生如此積極的效果，他并不感到驚訝。他說這是60 秒真正的善意。

“世界需要善良。”埃斯科瓦爾說。

▏Notes

1. tough 困難的，棘手的

2. brainstorm 集思廣益

3. shelter （人或動物）收容所

4. wag 搖擺

5. clip 片段

6. resurface 重新露面

7. adopt 收養

8. kennel 狗屋

9. benefit 好處，益處

Discussion 議一議：

1.Doyou like running？ Haveyou run with dogs？ 你喜歡跑步嗎？你和狗一起跑過步嗎？

2. What do you think of the idea of the shelter dog run？ 你覺得帶收容所的狗跑步這個主意怎么樣？