Dion Leonard

Dion Leonard is a 43 year old Australian/British runner who currently lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. Dion started running in 2013 and has already achieved numerous top 10 finishes in ultra races around the world in the most extreme conditions. Dion has not only competed in but completed some of the world’s toughest ultra running races across the most inhospitable landscapes including two times at the Toughest Footrace on Earth the brutal 250km Marathon Des Sables across the Sahara desert. Dion has also ran South Africa's 250km Kalahari Extreme Desert Race 3 times (winning it in 2017) MDS Peru 250km in the Ica Desert, Hawaii’s infamous HURT 100 and Cambodia 220km.

In 2016 Dion was running a 250km race across the Chinese Gobi Desert when a stray dog started running with him. The lovable pup, who would later earn the name Gobi, proved that what she lacked in size, she more than made up for in heart, as she went step for step with Dion over the Tian Shan Mountains, across massive sand dunes, through yurt villages and the black sands of the Gobi Desert, keeping pace with him for 125km. The unlikely pair formed an unbreakable bond and Dion made Gobi a promise to bring her home but their journey would become an emotional rollercoaster ride as Gobi would go missing in a city in Northwestern China. Their unbelievable true story became a worldwide sensation and international bestselling book with a movie now in the works.