Robson de Oliveira & Aaron Beggs
For unsurpassed international flair, we present Aaron Beggs of Bangor, Northern Ireland, and Robson De Oliveira of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Their unselfish performances at the Boston Marathon illustrate how sportsmanship and kindness transcend language barriers and geographical boundaries.
A self-described “handyman,” Aaron has a track record as a useful runner. He entered his first race in 2013 to support a friend whose family member had died by suicide. A decade later, he joined a charity marathon relay team. Assigned the first leg, Aaron instead ran the whole race with his team members.
A machine operator in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Robson started running in 2016, when his wife invited him on a run with friends. Since then, he has completed 11 marathons.
Both were pursuing personals bests in Boston but near exhaustion until they combined their superpower of compassion to assist Ajay Haridasse. A student at Boston’s Northeastern University, Ajay had collapsed 300 yards from the finish.
“In the marathon, you turn to other runners and say ‘keep it going,’ or people say it to you,” Aaron says. “No matter what, we all have a goal to cross the line. So, the instinct was ingrained: You don’t leave a man behind.”
Seeing Aaron had stopped to help the crawling Ajay, a drained Robson veered toward the pair. “Thankfully, Aaron stopped first,” Robson says. “In that moment, I asked God to give me strength, because I knew two people could help more than one.”
When Aaron saw Robson, “I remember thinking, ‘Thank God you’re here.’ Then it was ‘Let’s go. Let’s get him to the finish.’” Lifting Ajay’s arms around their shoulders, the trio’s journey to the finish caught the attention of the crowd, who whipped out their phones to capture the moment.
Sacrificing personal bests, the pair assisted Ajay across the line together in 2 hours, 44 minutes. Aaron called for a medical team, ostensibly for Ajay, just as Robson collapsed. “I was completely exhausted,” Robson says, “and needed to get the weight off my legs for a moment.” Robson ended up in the first wheelchair, though both received medical attention, testing and clearance.
Robson realized the significance of their actions as soon as he left the medical tent. Checking his phone, he was tagged in several Instagram posts. After Aaron met his wife and family for lunch, he got a message through his fitness app that he was tagged in a video already shared thousands of times.
“A few hours later, I got a message that Katy Perry shared it,” Aaron says. “I just laughed.” Before flying home the next day, he had interview requests from ABC and several broadcasters in the UK.
Like many Musial tales, this one has happy epilogues. After tweaking his training, Robson set a personal best, 2:38:57, 10 weeks later. Aaron met King Charles III. Yet, the accolades and good karma seem misplaced to both.
“It is a simple act of kindness and sportsmanship, but it’s not heroism,” Aaron says. Robson identified Jesus as “the one true hero. I’m just grateful that He allowed me to be part of that moment. It was a simple act of empathy − something that should be normal.”
The trio remains in touch on WhatsApp, messaging about their training and triumphs and plans to meet in person at the Musials. Robson and Ajay plan to meet this spring in Boston. The day after the Musials, Robson and Aaron hope to race bright and early in the St. Louis Track Club’s marathon relay. Aaron would love if someone would return the favor by running in his hometown race. “It’s nice to be nice,” he says.