Finding Gobi: The true story of one little dog’s big journey. Dion Leonard

need to sit in the car,” Dion replied. “I don’t feel very well.”

      That was an understatement. He felt awful! His head was pounding and his chest hurt and his vision was blurry and he felt like he was about to throw up or fall down or both. But he hoped that sitting in the car’s air-conditioning for a few minutes would make him feel better.

      It did at first. The cold air felt amazing. Dion just sank down into the seat and closed his eyes. He’d thought he’d never feel cool again!

      When he opened his eyes again, he saw the car’s dashboard display. “Does that really say fifty-five degrees?” he asked.

      “Yeah,” said the guy behind the wheel. Both he and the other volunteer were watching Dion closely. He knew that if they thought he couldn’t continue, they might force him to quit for the day. He couldn’t let that happen.

      “Can I have the water?” Dion asked instead, pointing at a water bottle sitting in the drink holder. The volunteers nodded, and one of them handed him the bottle. It was so cold some of the water was still ice! Dion drank it down and ate one of his energy gels as well. Then he sat back and waited.

      But he wasn’t feeling any better. In fact, now that he’d got used to the air-conditioning he realised he was actually feeling worse! His head was spinning and he could barely focus his eyes. The band across his chest was getting tighter and tighter, and each breath was a struggle.

      “Come on,” he muttered to himself. He knew that he needed to get back outside. Every second he sat here was a second he lost in the race. But somehow he couldn’t make himself move. And just thinking about going back out into that heat again made his heart pound even faster. Dion discovered he was panting for air. Then he noticed the volunteers watching him in the mirror. He must have looked like he was dying!

      For a second, Dion wondered if he was dying. But he refused to believe that. He still had a race to run, and a wife waiting back home, and family and friends – and a small dog he just knew would be sitting there at the finish line, watching for him. He couldn’t let her down.

      To distract himself, Dion asked about the only runner ahead of him. “How long ago did Zeng come through?”