As Sifan Hassan stopped to stretch her sore hip just 12 miles into the race, it looked like her debut at the 2023 TCS London Marathon was to end in tears.
Far from proving a moment of despair, it represented the start of what turned into a remarkable six months.
In one of the most thrilling efforts seen in the UK capital, the Dutch track star clawed her way back to the leading pack of women, narrowly avoiding collision with a race motorcycle as she veered across the tarmac to collect her drinks bottle.
From looking down and out south of the River Thames, Hassan went on to claim first place on The Mall, taking the tape by four seconds over Ethiopian Alemu Megertu.
It was a win that kickstarted another storybook year in the Sifan Hassan tale.
At the World Athletics Championships in Budapest a few months later, she underlined her incredible range, competing in three events and finishing six races.
Hassan secured 5,000m silver and 1,500m bronze, but hit the headlines for her astonishing fall in the closing stages of the 10,000m as she made her charge for the line, tumbling from near-certain gold to the minor places in a heartbeat.
Where Hassan goes, drama is never far behind her.
In October, she arrived in Chicago with the athletics world still talking about Tigist Assefa's electrifying 2:11:53 world record in Berlin just two weeks earlier.
The Windy City's fast, flat course was a chance for Hassan to show that she could come close to that kind of pace.
She stormed to her second Majors victory in a historic display, shattering the course record by 20 seconds and registering the second fastest time in history with 2:13:44, leaving two-time defending champion Ruth Chepngetich in her wake.
Hassan twice reeled the Kenyan in as she attempted to establish a gap, then at 30km, it was Hassan who applied the accelerator, creating an advantage that Chepngetich couldn't narrow.
Her win in Chicago, coupled with her victory in London, was enough for her to be crowned this year's Abbott World Marathon Majors series champion.
For many commentators in the sport, we are entering into a golden age of women's elite marathon running.
The prospect of Sifan battling out with Chepngetich, Assefa and the many other world class athletes for the coming years is tantalizing, to say the least.
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