Marathon runners in last place inspire each other to cross the finish line

During the last 12 miles of the Pittsburgh Marathon, Laura Mazur and Jessica Robertson forged a friendship.

At the marker for Mile 14, Mazur, who was running her 12th marathon, worried that she was going to come last in the May 5 race. She saw Robertson, who was running her first-ever marathon, a few steps behind, and decided they should run side by side, offering encouragement to one another along the way.

Robertson told NBC News she was feeling disappointed with her performance, but having Mazur next to her was enough to boost her confidence. The closer they got to the end, the more cheers they heard from spectators, and the runners crossed the finish line hand-in-hand. "It was so great that we got everything done and we were still together," Mazur told NBC News. "We finished what we started." Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.