Hyvon Ngetich was going to cross the finish line of the 2015 Austin Marathon, no matter what it took.
In an incredible display of determination, the 29-year-old Kenyan crawled on all fours to the finish line after her body gave out with about two-tenths of a mile left in the race, according to KEYE-TV in Austin. Ngetich led the elite women at the 23-mile mark when exhaustion took over and she collapsed to the ground.
Volunteers and medical personnel rushed out with a wheelchair to help Ngetich, but she refused the assistance, knowing it meant she would be disqualified from the race. With spectators cheering her on, Ngetich inched her way to the end with bloodied knees and elbows, finishing with a time of 3:04:02 — just three seconds behind the second-place finisher.
“In running, you have to keep going,” she said.
And even though Ngetich came in third, her performance inspired race director John Conley to award her the same amount of money as if she had come in second.
“You ran the bravest race and crawled the bravest crawl I have ever seen in my life,” Conley said. “You have earned much honor, and I am going to adjust your prize money, so you get the same prize money you would have gotten if you were second.”
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@ABC
