A 68-year-old man and his eight-year-old dog have walked over 24,000 miles in the last eight years, a number equal to the circumference of the planet.
Mike Mitchell from Alaska and his dog Chance walk every single day, rain or shine and those steps have added up to over 24,901 miles – over 3,000 miles per year.
It’s a journey Mitchell began keeping track of in 2013 using an Apple Watch, Alaska’s News Source reports.
The sexagenarian said: “I love to walk and Chance loves to walk, so we walk together. We just walk every single day.
“Somehow we managed to walk the distance around the planet. I think it’s remarkable my little dog can walk around the planet.”
(Image: Alaska news source)
Mitchell adopted Chance a few days after his 60th birthday in 2013, when he saw an advert on Craigslist.
“He (Chance) was most the beautiful one and I was the first person there,” Mitchell stated. “I said, ‘I’ll take him.’ Everything went so easily it was like something was ordered up by an unseen force.”
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Mitchell was a victim of Hepatitis B in 1976, shortly after undergoing surgery.
Hepatitis C also made Mitchell overweight and unhealthy. However, Chance saved his life. He was finally freed from the virus in 2018.
(Image: Alaska news source)
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He said: “I carried (Hepatitis C) for a long time, and most people didn’t make it. But I was lucky.
“I very quickly came to the conclusion I have to take another chance at this. It just was the perfect name for this little dog. He’s the second chance.”
Mitchell noted how doctors and vets have encouraged the pair to keep doing what they’re doing.