Runs alongside lead pack for about 50 meters before dropping out.

The 5K at the Arizona AIA Cross Country State Championships last weekend featured a furry bandit.

A coyote jumped into the race at the 1.5-mile mark and ran alongside the race’s leader, Harvey Nelson, a senior at Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson. Trina Painter, cross country coach for Flagstaff High School, said the coyote ran alongside Nelson and another runner for about 50 meters before pulling off to return to the brush near the course.

“Everyone was thankful that nothing happened to anyone,” Painter said. “It was just so surreal.”