Crossing the finish line

In another passage from 50 Marathons in 50 Days, Dean is relaying a story of the runners, and one in particular, who joined him for marathon number seven in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Then I noticed that the two triathletes who had planned to stop at the halfway point, hadn't. Perhaps they wanted to help Sarah make it to the finish line, or perhaps they were inspired by her grit and determination, and were feeding off of it, as I was.

...Almost our entire field of participants was clinging together, and the differences in ability levels were extreme. Some of the runners could have been literally miles up the road if they had chosen to run as hard as they could. On the other side, Sarah and some of the others probably would have been going much slower if not for the pull created by the stronger members of our group.

...Miraculously, she held on. The nine of us remaining together in the homestretch formed a side-by-side lineup, clasped hands, and raised our arms overhead as we crossed the finish line. Sarah doubled over and began sobbing with a mixture of joy and other emotions that are too complicated to name, but are known to everyone who has pushed his or her body beyond known limits to achieve a goal.