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With the Boston Marathon finish line in sight, they sacrificed personal goals to help a runner in need
Israel Rivera and Henco Visser embodied the spirit of the 2026 Boston Marathon when they helped Jonathan Adams cross the finish line on Monday.
As Israel Rivera rounded the final turn at his first Boston Marathon, the El Paso, Texas, native prayed to God that his cramping legs would hold up long enough to let him finish the race in under three hours.
But when fellow racer Jonathan Adams fell to the ground right in front of him, Rivera didn’t hesitate to stop and help.
Running his seventh marathon overall, Rivera joined the club of Boston Marathoners who selflessly help others across the finish line, a phenomenon that plays out year after year after year.
“I really wanted that goal,” Rivera told Boston.com. “But it’s just being human, right? When I saw him, you can’t help but help.”
After trying to get Adams back on his feet, Rivera began looking around for assistance. That’s when fellow runner Henco Visser jumped in to offer a helping hand.
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Visser, who flew in from Cape Town, South Africa, for his first Boston Marathon (and his first Abbott World Marathon Major), said that in that moment, he put himself in Adams’s mindset.
“I can’t imagine how he must have been feeling, getting so close, all that work, and then seemingly losing all of it in the last 200 meters,” Visser told Boston.com. “Getting him across the finish line to collect the medal he has been working towards for months was an absolute must.”
As the trio made their way to the finish line, Adams was initially able to walk with assistance. But a few blocks from the finish line, his legs fully gave out, leaving Rivera and Visser to shoulder the load.
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“I would hope that if that ever happened to me, somebody would do the same thing,” Rivera said. “Especially so close to the finish line.”
After crossing the finish line, medical personnel began attending to Adams, separating the trio of runners. But later that night, Adams reached out to Rivera on Strava to let him know he was OK and thank him for the help.
Rivera may have missed out on a coveted sub-three-hour marathon, but his finishing time of 3:02:04 was good enough to re-qualify him for Boston, and he plans to be back again.
While waiting to board a plane home to El Paso, Rivera told Boston.com that the moment was a religious experience.
“My legs were cramping, really hurting, and it was almost like God’s way of saying, ‘Hey, I’m gonna make you stop thinking about your own legs and help somebody else,'” Rivera said. “As I was helping him, I was feeling no pain.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Rivera continued. “And I couldn’t ask for a better ending.”
On a day when John Korir set the course record and many runners set personal bests, Visser, like Rivera, missed out on his goal time. But Visser said that was far from his mind.
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“Majors are about memories,” Visser said. “Times are forgotten. It’s moments like these that I will remember forever.”
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