Two Runners Help Struggling Athlete Finish Boston Marathon

In a powerful display of camaraderie during the 130th Boston Marathon, two runners paused their own races to help a struggling competitor cross the finish line, turning a moment of exhaustion into one of shared triumph on Boylston Street.

Ajay Haridasse, a mechanical engineering student at Northeastern University working a co-op with New Balance, was nearing the end of the 26.2-mile course on Monday, Patriots' Day, when severe cramps caused him to collapse just after the 26-mile mark. As dozens of other participants streamed past, Haridasse fell four times, each attempt to stand growing more desperate. "After falling down the fourth time, I was getting ready to crawl," Haridasse later recounted to the Boston Herald.

Aaron Beggs, a 40-year-old former Army corporal from Bangor, Northern Ireland, and a member of the North Down Athletic Club, was the first to stop. Dressed in his club's yellow and blue vest, Beggs extended his hands and pulled Haridasse to his feet, though the effort proved too much for one person alone. Moments later, Robson De Oliveira of Brazil joined in, linking arms with the pair to steady Haridasse for the final 1,000 feet to the finish. The trio crossed...