Top ‘leaving it all on the course’ running moments

On Saturday, Leo Daschbach ran a 3:59.54 mile to join only 10 other American runners who broke the four-minute barrier while still in high school. After crossing the line, he held it together as he was congratulated by his fellow runners, but his PB effort caught up with him and he eventually puked his guts all over the track. Not a pretty sight, but it proved that the young runner had given his all and left nothing in the tank to break the barrier. In honour of that tremendous run, here are the top “leaving it all on the course” running moments (don’t worry, they don’t all involve puking).

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Galen Rupp—2018 Prague Marathon

At the Prague Marathon in 2018, Galen Rupp set what is still his marathon PB of 2:06:07. He won the race, smiling as he approached the finish line. He crossed the line with his hands in the air and threw a celebratory fist-pump before throwing up whatever nutrition products he’d taken in over the 42.2K course.

Massachusetts state cross-country championships

At the 2008 Massachusetts high school cross-country championships, a runner named Ben Perron was the subject of a viral video after he collapsed just metres from the finish line of the 5K race. When he first fell down, Perron tried to get up and continue toward the finish, but he couldn’t stay on his feet. Eventually, he resorted to crawling last few metres of the course. It’s agonizing to watch, but he did make it to the line before being carted away by the paramedics.

RELATED: Runner collapses short of finish, crawls, then rolls, to a Boston qualifier

2019 Boston and London marathons

Much like Perron’s in his 5K cross-country race, Micah Herndon had a tough crawl to the finish line at the Boston Marathon in 2019. He fell in the final straight but didn’t let it stop him, willing his way to a 3:38 finish. A couple of weeks later at the London Marathon, British runner Hayley Carruthers collapsed with just a few steps to go. She landed hard, but didn’t let it stop her, and she immediately began to crawl to the line, finishing in 18th place with a three-minute PB of 2:33:59.

So much pain but still determined to finish, Hayley Carruthers ?? #LondonMarathon2019 #GetInspired pic.twitter.com/IuhF1iUwLr

— Gavin Evans (@GavinEvs) April 28, 2019

RELATED: With a win in sight, runner selflessly helps collapsed division leader to finish

Honourable Mention

After Kevin Hart ran the 2018 Chicago Marathon, he posted a video to Instagram to talk about his run. He explained that he ran a time of 4:13, and although it wasn’t the time he’d hoped for, he was still happy with the result. He also mentioned two women he saw on the course who’d had accidents. Bathroom (or lack of bathroom) related accidents. Hey, no judging—we’ve all been there. Some of us have been lucky and made it to the toilet, some of us haven’t. Either way, if you’ve encountered this type of problem, you went all in on your run.