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I trained for a 50k with my dog (pit/boxer mix) and routinely ran 20+ miles with him. I'm fairly certain that he could have run much farther than me, judging by his vs my energy level at the end of the run. That was in West Virginia summer, too, where it is humid and warm (although generally I started in the dark ~5 AM and was done by 10 or 11). Of course, I'm not an elite runner :) But I don't think he's an elite dog, either!

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Interesting. I have a terrier (~15 lbs). He keeps up with me for 45 minutes and seems barely tired. But if the temperature is above 75 degrees F or so, I can easily run farther and faster than he can. Right from the start I can tell he's less enthused and wants to run slower (which we do, or he stays home; I don't want to bring him anywhere near heat exhaustion).

Yup, conditions are important. A wolf, for example, could outrun any human on the tundra, but not in the Sahara.

I was a little concerned at first with my dog, running long distances, but we worked up from 15 or so miles per week to 50, and he seemed fine with it. But I was running in the early morning at the coolest time of day, so I'm sure that helped him.

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