I'm thinking of the recent Boston and London marathons. Warm conditions, inexperienced runners, gun hoe pr chasers that blow the f up and turn into the walking dead. At what point should race officials be pulling these people off the course? No runner should ever be carried by another runner. If one reaches the point of exhaustion, sorry not your day and let's consider long term health over the glory of finishing your marathon. You screwed up either in poor preparation, poor adjustment to conditions, or poor execution of race strategy.