Dog Races to 7th Place Finish in Alabama Half-Marathon

— -- An Alabama dog who found her way into the middle of a half-marathon ended up finishing the race in seventh place and earning herself a medal.

Ludivine, a two-and-a-half-year-old bloodhound, was the star of this year’s Elkmont Half Marathon on Jan. 16, in Elkmont, Alabama, after she found herself at the race’s starting line, unbeknownst to her owner.

Ludivine’s owner, April Hamlin, posted on Facebook that her dog, “showed up herself to the start of the race.”

“We had let her out of her pen the night before and that's where she ended up,” Hamlin wrote underneath a photo of Ludivine posted by the race’s organizers. “The race was on her own volition, I found out afterwards:)”

Hamlin told ABC News she wasn't concerned when Ludivine was missing while running the race.

"We live on a farm, off the road, with acreage," Hamlin wrote by email. "[We] thought she was out sniffing around for a bit."

Ludivine was among 165 finishers at the half-marathon, which benefits the local Elkmont High School cross country and track teams.

The dog’s impact on the race was such that race organizers say they have decided to rename the half marathon Elkmont's Hound Dog Half.