Behind the Twin Cities Marathon photo

One of the most interesting thing about marathons is nobody really cares who wins the things except for the most hard-core running fans.

Instead, it’s this scene (and dozens like it) that captures the essence of Sunday’s Twin Cities Marathon.

Two runners assisted an exhausted comrade across the finish line on Sunday. Photo: Judy Griesedieck for MPR News

Other than the fact younger runners are helping an old-timer across the finish line, what’s the story behind this?

KARE 11 followed up, learning the 75-year-old man is Rick Kleyman.

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(Video link)

The Plymouth man has been a fixture in Twin Cities running for more than 60 years, according to this 2010 profile. He’s been a running coach at Armstrong, Wayzata and now at Providence Academy.

He ran a 2:38 Twin Cities Marathon at age 42.

Those days are over now, of course. But he still has goals. He wanted to run this year’s marathon in under five hours. He made it in 4:49:23.