A Long distance challenge based on a true story!
2551 Miles to reunite with family!
Walk, run, bike or swim in the famous footsteps of Bobbie the wonder dog! Recreate his incredible journey across the country to reunite with his owners! This challenge is best completed with your own wonder dog!
Who was bobbie the wonder dog?
In August of 1923, the Brazier family were visiting relatives in Wolcott, Indiana. Their two-year-old Scotch Collie/English Shepherd mix dog Bobbie was attacked by three other dogs and ran away. After an exhaustive search, the heartbroken Brazier family were unable to find Bobbie and continued their trip before returning home to Oregon, expecting never to see their dog again.
In February 1924, six months later, Bobbie returned to Silverton, mangy, dirty, and scrawny, with his toenails worn down to nothing. He showed all the signs of having walked the entire distance, including swimming rivers and crossing the Continental Divide during the coldest part of winter.
During his ordeal, he crossed at least 2,551 miles (4,105 km) of plains, desert, and mountains in the winter to return home, an average of approximately 14 miles (23 km) per day.
Bobbies Journey Highlights
Bobbie Crossed 9 States
His story began in Wolcott Indiana and ended in Silverton Oregon. It is calculated that he crossed through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and Oregon
Following his Nose
Bobbie was able to trace the route of his family by stopping at all the same rest stops as his family on his trip home.
A Journey of Ups and Downs
He showed all the signs of having walked the entire distance, including swimming rivers and crossing the Continental Divide during the coldest part of winter, across plains, desert, and mountains in order to return home
Famous Dog!
Bobbie later stared in "Call of the West", where he played himself on the big screen.
About the Challenge
The Bobbie the Wonderdog challenge is meant to be done with your very own wonder dog! At 2551 miles, this is no easy journey. That’s why we apply a mileage multiplier to the miles you log!
The challenge is broken up into 10, 255.1 Mile segments. For every mile you log, you have the choice in having your distance represented on Bobbies journey as 5 or 10 miles. This means that the total challenge duration is either 255.1 or 510.2 real human miles!
How To Complete The Challenge
- Sign up using the buttons around this page
- Walk, Run, Bike or Swim your desired distance, and don't forget to bring your own Bobbie along!
- Track your distance using a run logger app or the old fashioned way
- Periodically fill out the distance updater by following the link below
- Check back often to view the updated status list
New High Quality Swag Coming Soon!
Bobbie Challenge Entry
The Complete Package-
Entry to the Challenge
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Digital Bib for you to Print at Home
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IFA T-shirt
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Bobbie Theme water bottle or tumbler
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Donation to animal Shelter
Send Us Your Progress Update
FAQ
Anything that covers distance can be logged! Just keep track of how far you have gone and it can count!
Treadmills and in place activities are also a great way to participate
Keep track of the miles you run using an application like log my run or your GPS enabled fitness tracker. Then visit the challenge page for the specific challenge and follow the entry instructions there.
Entry fees range based on the event type and duration, as well as the swag included in entry. Some races to support charity are free with an encouraged donation, while some of our longest challenges can cost up to $100
Absolutely! A mile that you walk or run can count towards any number of events and races. Just report them to us separately.
Nothing. A cheater is only cheating himself. All of our challenges are not officially competitive, so if a user were to cheat, he would be doing himself a disservice.
A Race is a limited time event, over a shorter distance. Races include placement among other racers and a posted results page.
A challenge is long term individual goal, like walking the total distance of the Florida Keyes. These can take anywhere from a month to over a year.
New events are teased on the home page before being opened for public registration. New events are typically made available on the 15th of each month, and remain open for several months.
In the case of races, the window may be much narrower, often lasting a month or less for registration and participation.
We will post an update to the race page with results following each race and challenge. We will also have a dedicated results page on the website.
