Cross-country team practices by running with shelter dogs

What’s a great way to make distance running bearable? Ads dogs to your route! That’s exactly what cross-country coach Luis Escobar did with his team from St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, CA.

Instead of track practice as usual, Escobar took his team to the Santa Barbara County Animal Shelter and had each teenager take a dog out of its cage for a mile and a half run and a taste of freedom.

A video of the pup run went viral and continues to positively impact the shelter, its dogs and the students.