Near mile post 18 at the Boston Marathon, Renee Bercury stood with family members to watch for her son. A number of the runners who passed them were struggling with the cold rain and the bitter headwind. One runner looked especially desperate. He approached several groups of bystanders, asking, "Can I have a jacket? Can I have a jacket?" When he approached Bercury's spot, she took off her yellow raincoat and gave it to the stranger. The runner was so weak, Bercury's nephew had to help him get it on. Judging by the man's exhaustion, Bercury didn't know if he'd be able to finish the race, but she was glad to see her yellow raincoat moving away from her in the pack. Back home in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania several days later, Bercury got a message from her son. Several news outlets had picked up the social media story of a runner seeking the kind woman who had literally given him the coat off her back. Bercury's son recognized his mom's 20-year-old LL Bean raincoat.
Bercury and the runner, Steven Stallis, connected by phone. Stallis told Bercury he had indeed finished the race thanks to her kindness and her jacket. Bercury told Stallis the history of that old raincoat, how she'd worn it on a couple decades worth of hikes through national parks and that he could keep it. Stallis insisted on sending it back to her. He told the Boston press, “Now it’s crossed the Boston finish line, so it’s a new story for her to have that jacket back.”
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