Runner helps competitor with heat stroke cross the finish line

Jesse Orach was just 100 yards from the finish line when he knew he wasn't going to be able to cross it.

The 23-year-old runner was about to win his second consecutive Beach to Beacon 10K in Maine on Saturday, but he had heat stroke, and stumbled before he could cross the line. "It kind of seemed like it was over for me," Orach told the Portland Press Herald. "Then, I felt someone pick me up." It was Robert Gomez, another runner. Gomez held Orach up and pushed him across the finish line, where he collapsed.

Both men completed the course in 31 minutes, 31 seconds, but Orach "ran a better race," Gomez said. "He gave it more than I did. I didn't deserve to win." Orach's mother, who didn't get to see him win the men's race in 2016, was there to support her son, and she was shocked by Gomez's actions. "What he did was so selfless," she told the Press Herald. "You don't see that very often."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up