Two runners at the Boston Marathon stopped mid-race to help a fellow competitor who had collapsed due to severe leg cramps. Spectator Sasi Bejrakashem was watching the race when she witnessed the emotional scene unfold near the closing stages. She said she noticed a runner in a black top suddenly come to a halt and buckle over in pain with cramps in his muscles. While several athletes ran past him, two competitors made the decision to stop and help. The pair lifted the struggling runner between them, each taking one side, and supported him as they continued along the course together. First-timer Ajay Haridasse had just crossed the 26-mile marker when he described his legs as going limp. Struggling to get up, then falling again, his mind was battling his body for all to see. “After falling down the fourth time, I was getting ready to crawl,” said Haridasse. That’s when two runners — Aaron Beggs (in the yellow jersey) and Robson Oliveira (in the white jersey) — came to his aid. It might seem to an observer like a routine show of sportsmanship, but these athletes have goals in mind. If he was forced to crawl the last 0.2 miles, Haridasse might not have qualified for next year’s race, and Oliveira would have finished with a new personal best in the Boston Marathon. “It was a split-second decision,” explained Oliveira. "When I entered the final stretch of the marathon, I was just a few meters away from achieving my personal best, but in the distance I saw Haridasse collapsing. I knew I wouldn’t have the strength to help him on my own. In that moment, I thought, ‘God, if someone stops, I’ll stop too and help him.’” That's when Aaron Beggs stopped to help. Both Haridasse and Oliveira ended up in the medical tent, with Oliveira suffering from extreme dehydration. Nevertheless, both recovered quickly. Haridasse, a senior at Northwestern University, is adamant that he will run again next year.
