Running isn’t everyone’s favorite activity, but it’s a welcomed challenge for a cross-country team at St. Joseph High School.

Recently, these students decided to liven up their morning runs by inviting dogs from their local animal shelter to join them.

Watch the video at the end.

In a unique initiative, students teamed up with the Santa Barbara County animal shelter to bring a group of energetic dogs for their morning workout.

With the support of the shelter staff and their coach, this event marked the first of what they hope will become a regular occurrence.

The enthusiastic dogs seemed to enjoy the run just as much as the students did. However, one dog named Fred wasn’t quite as thrilled about the activity. Fortunately, Fred’s guardian, Josh, was happy to carry him during the run.

This initiative provides valuable exercise for the dogs and raises awareness about pet adoption within the community.

It gives the students a sense of responsibility as they pair up with a dog for the run, ensuring that the dogs are well taken care of throughout the session.

Despite some playful attempts by the dogs to stray from their partners, the leashes kept them safely in check.

The coach observed that it was hard to determine who enjoyed the run more—the students or the dogs.

The event has sparked a wider trend, with several videos of similar runs surfacing on social media after the coach shared footage of the event on Facebook.

Read more Dogs News.