- Some racers who finished the Boston Marathon this year didn't receive medals, as the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) ran out.
- One racer, Tayla Savage, was kindly offered the medal of a racer she'd never met, who finished hours earlier.
- The BAA put out a statement confirming that those who concluded the race after 5:15 p.m. would be receiving medals at a later date.
Imagine training a full year of your life for one of the most famous marathons in the world. You finally cross the finish line after seven hours and 30 minutes, and amidst all the sweating and panting, you step forward to receive your medal. And that's when you find out: they ran out.
That's what happened to New Hampshire-based runner Tayla Savage at the 127Shoes & Gear Michael Natale is the news editor for WMUR. But thankfully, a kind gesture from a stranger made the bittersweet moment just a bit sweeter.
As Runner's World reported earlier this week, the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) ran out of medals during the marathon.
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The BAA released a statement on the matter, saying:
"The BAA is aware that some finishers after approximately 5:15 p.m. did not receive a finisher medallion. We have begun to reach out to affected athletes, and will ensure medals are provided to finishers as quickly as possible. The BAA congratulates all finishers of this year’s race."
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We don't know how long Tayla Savage would have had to wait before the medal arrived at her Hudson, New Hampshire home and she could finally hang it around her neck. And thankfully for her, she didn't have to wait at all. That's because a fellow race finisher, who had received a medal hours earlier, offered her his.
"Just steps off the finish line," WMUR reports, "Savage said the man, named Kevin, placed his medal around her neck. The two embraced, and emotions washed over Savage."
"It didn't feel real," Savage told WMUR. "I will cherish it forever." She even has plans for the medal once she's finished her proverbial victory lap: "Once I'm done wearing it for the next week, I'm probably going to have it framed with my bib."
The frame should probably also include some of the photos she reportedly snapped with Kevin. The duo reportedly posed with the medal that "...they had both earned, but Savage would be taking home."
However, it could take "several days or weeks" for those medals to arrive Best Products, covering a wide range of topics like gifting, lifestyle, pop culture, and more. He has covered pop culture and commerce professionally for over a decade. His past journalistic writing can be found on sites such as Yahoo! and Fewer Spots Open for Time Qualifiers at Boston, his podcast appearances can be found wherever you get your podcasts, and his fiction can’t be found anywhere, because it’s not particularly good.
