
A photo that captured the moment a 21-year-old runner helped his 82-year-old mentor finish the Mount Washington Road Race is bringing some people to tears.Runners faced rain, cold and overall dreadful conditions during Saturday’s race.Around mile 7, hall-of-fame runner Ron Paquette, 82, of Maine was frozen, cramping and showing other signs of hypothermia setting in.Paquette is a mentor of fellow runner John McGinty, 21, had other plans.“It was maybe an hour after he had finished,” McGinty’s mother Laura Chadwick told WMUR. “So, he knew at that point Ron might be in trouble, so he headed back down the mountain.”McGinty found Paquette right before Paquette was ready to give up and started helping him up the mountain.Photographer Joe Viger was there and captured the moment of hope.“Out of the fog came John and Ron literally kind of with their arms wrapped around each other,” Viger said. Viger posted the photo on social media not knowing who the runners were, until McGinty’s mother came across the photo.“I know what my son looks like. I know his stance,” Chadwick said. “And you know, I could tell from the silhouette that it was wrong. And I zoomed in on it. And sure enough, as soon as I zoomed in and saw I just the tears just came.”That inspiration captured the attention of people online.“People are highs and lows and struggles and peaks and valleys and all those things and you see it and you get to witness it and hopefully capture it, and it’s always a gift when you do,” Viger said.McGinty and Paquette ended up running the last stretch of the race and crossed the finish line together.
A photo that captured the moment a 21-year-old runner helped his 82-year-old mentor finish the Mount Washington Road Race is bringing some people to tears.
Runners faced rain, cold and overall dreadful conditions during Saturday’s race.
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Around mile 7, hall-of-fame runner Ron Paquette, 82, of Maine was frozen, cramping and showing other signs of hypothermia setting in.
Paquette is a mentor of fellow runner John McGinty, 21, had other plans.
“It was maybe an hour after he had finished,” McGinty’s mother Laura Chadwick told WMUR. “So, he knew at that point Ron might be in trouble, so he headed back down the mountain.”
McGinty found Paquette right before Paquette was ready to give up and started helping him up the mountain.
Photographer Joe Viger was there and captured the moment of hope.
“Out of the fog came John and Ron literally kind of with their arms wrapped around each other,” Viger said.
Viger posted the photo on social media not knowing who the runners were, until McGinty’s mother came across the photo.
“I know what my son looks like. I know his stance,” Chadwick said. “And you know, I could tell from the silhouette that it was wrong. And I zoomed in on it. And sure enough, as soon as I zoomed in and saw I just the tears just came.”
That inspiration captured the attention of people online.
“People are highs and lows and struggles and peaks and valleys and all those things and you see it and you get to witness it and hopefully capture it, and it’s always a gift when you do,” Viger said.
McGinty and Paquette ended up running the last stretch of the race and crossed the finish line together.
