Dallas student helps marathon runner cross the finish line
A high school student helped a marathon runner win the women's division of a Texas marathon after the athlete began to collapse just 200 yards from the finish line.
Chandler Self won the women's division of the BMW Dallas marathon with a time of 2:53:58 on Sunday - but not without the help of 17-year-old Ariana Luterman.
Luterman, of the Dallas suburb Addison, was running the final two miles of the race with Self, a psychiatrist from New York, as part of a relay team with her elite high school, the Greenhill Academy.
In the final half mile of the race, Self began to collapse, and in the final 200 yards she fell to her feet several times. Each time, Luterman helped her to her feet.
Chandler Self (center, in purple) won the women's division of the BMW Dallas marathon with a time of 2:53:58 - but not without the help of 17-year-old Ariana Luterman (center in blue), who helped her cross the finish line
Luterman, of the Dallas suburb Addison, was running the final two miles of the race with Self, a psychiatrist from New York, as part of a relay team with her elite high school, the Greenhill Academy
As they reached the finish line, Luterman pushed Self ahead, and with the support of the teen, Self lunged across and won the race, video footage shows.
Marathon personnel immediately came to her side with a wheelchair and took her to a medical tent, where she asked: 'Did I win?'
The race's female runner-up, Caitlin Keen of Fort Worth, finished nearly three minutes behind, at in 2:56:37.
Luterman said that the only thing she could do was help Self, who initially tried to say 'No thank you'.
'Right when I caught up with her at the [relay team's] 2.5-mile mark, I told her: '"ust so you know, the high school relay is out here to compete with you guys. I'm going to be your pacer. We're going to get you that win",' Luterman told the Dallas Morning News of the moments before Self started to collapse.
The teenager added: 'I just couldn't help but think she worked so many months. You can be training years for a marathon.
As they reached the finish line, Luterman pushed Self ahead, and with the support of the teen, Self lunged across and won the race
Luterman said that the only thing she could do was help Self, who initially tried to say 'No thank you', but then let the teenager help her
Marathon executive director Marcus Grunewald said runners can't receive help from spectators, race officials or medical staff during the run, but 'another participant is a gray zone'. He said the race committee reviewed the results and deemed Self the winner, despite receiving help from Luterma
'As soon as we got to the finish line, I pushed her out in front of me so she could cross the tape before I did.'
After self was treated by marathon staff, she returned for post race interviews and recalled Luterman telling her: 'You can do it. You got it come on girl, the finish line's right there. We can see it'.
'She was so encouraging, I knew she was right, and I wanted it so bad and this was just a dream for me,' Self, who is originally from Texas, said.
Marathon executive director Marcus Grunewald said runners can't receive help from spectators, race officials or medical staff during the run, but 'another participant is a gray zone'.
He said the race committee reviewed the results and deemed Self the winner, despite receiving help from Luterman.
Grunewald said they looked at the distance between Self and other runners and decided she still would have won without the assistance.
Luterman has been competing in adult triathlons since she was ten years old, and when she was 12, she launched a nonprofit to help homeless children in Dallas, according to NBC.