It took everything Chandler Self had — and then some — to win the Dallas Marathon on Sunday.
Self began collapsing over the final half-mile an it took a warm gesture of sportsmanship from a fellow runner for her to cross the finish line. Video shows Ariana Luterman, a high school runner at GreenHill Academy, help Self to her feet several times over the final 200 yards. As the two approached the finish line, Self fell again and lunged to fall across it. Marathon personnel immediately came to help her and take her away in a wheelchair.
Gut-wrenching and heroic finish by Chandler Self at the @DallasMarathon. Hurts just watching it.#RUNBMWDALLAS #Runners #Marathon pic.twitter.com/Uwyty5PhTA
— Chris Sadeghi (@chrissadeghi) December 10, 2017
Luterman, according to one report, was running a relay when she saw Self in distress and decided to step up to help.
“The only thing I could think of to do was to pick her up, so I picked her up and I think she was a little confused at first,” Luterman said. “No way was I going to start sprinting and just leave her there. … You saw, those last 20 meters, she was just down and I was so worried she wasn’t going to make it. So I picked her up with all my might. Right when we got to the finish line, I just kind of pushed her in front of me so she would be the one to cross that line.”
Greenhill School runner Ariana Luterman explains how she helped Chandler Self reach #BMWDallasMarathon finish line. pic.twitter.com/D0DdhBQlCI
— Tommy Cummings (@tommycummings) December 10, 2017
Self, who is from Texas but now lives in New York, was the first women’s finisher in an unofficial time of 2:53:58, ahead of Caitlin Keen, a former SMU runner and volunteer assistant cross-country coach at TCU, in 2:56.38.
Here's a screen shot of the end to the women's marathon. That's Ariana, a high school student from Addison, helping the winner, Chandler Self, cross the finish line.
What an awesome moment. #DallasMarathon #RunBMWDallas #NBCDFWNow pic.twitter.com/XNW3epDqRP
— Tim Ciesco (@TimCiescoNBC5) December 10, 2017
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