Hello everyone!
If you think I’ve forgotten about your requests for more stories about acts of kindness, you’d be mistaken! 😁
I recently saw a story right here in my adopted town of Pittsburgh that is making me smile a week later. It highlights some qualities that I really admire about this town. Pittsburgh and its outlying areas are full of people who exude perseverance, teamwork, compassion, empathy, and volunteerism.
Laura Mazur and Jessica Robertson were the last two runners in the full Pittsburgh Marathon. Everyone else had finished, and the streets were starting to empty out. They were total strangers to each other, as Laura is from New Bremen, Ohio, and Jessica hails from Braddock, Pennsylvania.
Laura and Jessica met around mile 14. Laura, who was running her 12th marathon, could see that Jessica, who was running her 1st marathon, was flagging, so she said to Jessica: “I’ll make you a promise. I won’t leave you if you don’t leave me. And no matter what, we will cross [the finish line] together.” Jessica’s response was: “Well, I won’t leave you because I can’t do this alone.”
And so they ran together, and at the last mile, they grabbed hands and held on tight as they fought to get to the finish line. At over seven hours of running, they were both exhausted, but they did it! You can see the sheer elation come over them as they finish in this video:
I am so in awe of these ladies, first of all, for completing a marathon, and secondly, for sticking together like that!
In addition, the people who volunteer on race day are to be commended for all of their hard work. Many commit to staying all the way to the end, even if the last runners are slow, so they can cheer them on. To me, that takes a lot of dedication. Toward the end of the race, several volunteers, some of whom had already finished their own races, could tell that the ladies needed some motivation, and they came through! Instead of being concerned with getting back home, into the shower, and eating some food after the race, they stayed there and cheered these ladies on!
One of them thought to pull out her phone, capturing the viral moment forever. You can see some of them talk about it starting in the middle of this video:
This whole story makes me smile, and I hope it has done the same for you.
If you’re feeling like the world is kind of wonky right now, take hope: there is good in this world. That will never end.
There will always be good people helping each other out.
Especially here in the Steel City.
You just have to look for them.
Have a great week! 🐝
