Like all competitors, he had packed just enough in his 6.5kg backpack for the whole course.
The 42-year-old Australian had been running competitively for three years, and he was running to win.
The next day, at the start line, he noticed the pint-sized pooch next to him, its tail wagging.
He waved it away, worried it might get trampled by the 100 or so runners as they made their way over the Tian Shan mountain range.
That night, it cosied up next to Mr Leonard and even managed to coax a little food from him.
It made me think more about stopping and helping her, rather than just focused on winning," said Mr Leonard, who finished second.
As Mr Leonard was preparing to get Gobi home, it went missing from the home of one of the race organisers. »
