Watch: Marathoner says "natural instinct" made him help runner across finish line

Boston Marathon runners help man whose legs gave out cross the finish line

Two runners participating in the Boston Marathon on April 20, helped a fellow runner cross the finish line after his legs gave out. (Credit: Fauzan Rezda Muhammad via Storyful)

Heartwarming video showed runners at the Boston Marathon helping a fellow runner cross the finish line after he collapsed from exhaustion. 

Dig deeper:

Ajay Haridasse’s legs gave out while he was participating in the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20. 

Footage captured at the marathon showed Aaron Beggs and Robson Oliveira holding up Haridasse as they crossed the finish line together. 

Two runners helped a fellow athlete complete the Boston Marathon after his legs gave out just meters away from the finish line on Monday, April 20. (Fauzan Rezda Muhammad via Storyful)

What they're saying:

"If I had to go farther, I would have," Beggs said in an interview Thursday. "It's fight or flight, and I decided to fight and help him get to our destination."

For Beggs, the moment capped what already had been an incredible experience, from being cheered on by local college students to chatting with a fellow runner wearing his father's name on his shirt just to hear onlookers call it out.

"We were shaking hands as we were running, and was like, 'We’ve got this. Let's do this together'," he said. "It's not like in shorter races where you're head-to-head trying to beat people. In the marathon, you're cheering each other on and encouraging everybody."

Local perspective:

Haridasse would not have qualified for the 2027 Boston Marathon if it weren’t for the help of Beggs and Oliveira, and personally thanked them both on Instagram, according to the Boston Herald.