At the 130th Boston Marathon, a runner collapsed just 200 meters from the finish line. Two complete strangers sacrificed their own goals to get him across.
The Legs Give Out
Israel Rivera, from El Paso, Texas, was running his first-ever Boston Marathon. He had one dream — to finish in under three hours. His legs were cramping badly.
That's when Jonathan Adams collapsed right in front of him.
Rivera didn't hesitate. He stopped, bent down, and started lifting Adams to his feet.
"I really wanted that goal. But it's just being human, right?"
The Third Hero
While Rivera was trying to get Adams back up, Henco Visser stepped in to help. Visser had flown in from Cape Town, South Africa.
"Getting him across the finish line to collect the medal he'd been working towards for months was an absolute must."
The Final Meters
The three of them set off toward the finish together. A few blocks from the line, Adams's legs gave out completely. Rivera and Visser hoisted him onto their shoulders and carried him the rest of the way.
All three crossed the finish line together.
What They Lost — and What They Gained
Rivera finished in 3:02:04. His dream of a sub-three-hour marathon slipped away. Visser missed his goal time too. Neither of them has any regrets.
"Majors are about memories. Times are forgotten. It's moments like these that I will remember forever," Visser said.
Rivera's time was still fast enough to re-qualify him for next year's Boston Marathon. He's already planning to come back.
This is a Boston Marathon tradition — every year, someone helps a stranger across the finish line. Times are forgotten — moments last forever.