The 29-year-old Kenyan marathon runner was in the lead, and on her way to winning the race, but all of a sudden, her body began to break down. She subsequently collapsed.
Unable to walk or run, medical personnel offered Ngetich a wheelchair, intending to take her off the tracks. Determined to finish the race, she declined and proceeded to crawl to the finish line. She eventually finished in third place.
Austin Marathon race director John Conley was so impressed by her determination, that he rewarded her by increasing her prize money to that of a second-place finisher.
Referring to Ngetich as the toughest person on the planet, Conley said, “You ran the bravest race and crawled the bravest crawl I have ever seen in my life,” he told her. “You have earned much honor.”
