A runner in the 2025 Boston Marathon gave up his personal race goal to help another man who had collapsed just before the finish line.
Sometimes we get so focused on our own goals that we miss the people who need help right in front of us. But God calls us to live with selfless love—putting others before ourselves.
This story shows how powerful it can be when we stop thinking about our finish line and start caring for someone else’s.
As Pedro Arieta, a 34-year-old runner from Brazil, approached the final stretch of the Boston Marathon, his dream of finishing in under 2 hours and 40 minutes was still within reach.
He was running alongside his wife, professional athlete Luíza Cravo de Azevedo, and both were giving their all as they moved down Boylston Street.
With the finish line in sight, Arieta spotted another runner—Shawn Goodwin, 35, of Boston—collapse onto the pavement, his legs failing beneath him.
Several runners passed by without stopping. But Arieta, moved by what he saw, couldn’t keep running. “It was impossible to run past someone who needed help reaching their dream finish line and not help them complete the Boston Marathon,” he later wrote on Instagram. Instead of chasing his sub-2:40 finish, he stopped and tried to help Goodwin to his feet.
Goodwin was clearly struggling. Each attempt to stand was met with stumbling and weakness. But Arieta didn’t leave. He patiently supported him until he regained balance.
Together, they finished the final stretch of the race—side by side. Arieta crossed the finish line at 2:41:29, nearly two minutes over his goal.
His wife, who completed the marathon in 2:52:36, responded to his post with words that reflected something far deeper than athletic achievement. “The essence of sport to me is that right there,” she wrote.
“You dreamed about a sub 2:40 and when you were ALMOST there, God used you to lose a few minutes and do something with much more meaning.”
Spectators nearby captured the scene, and the clip of Arieta’s selfless moment quickly went viral, touching hearts across social media. A text in the video read, “Humanity, even after 26.2 miles.”
It was a quiet but powerful statement of kindness, one that didn’t need applause to matter.
This story encourages us to slow down and notice the needs around us. Whether in a marathon or our daily lives, we can be someone’s helping hand when they’re struggling to stand.
Let’s pray that we will always be willing to pause our own plans when God calls us to lift someone else.
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