A Boston woman running in the Chicago Marathon stopped to rescue a kitten at mile 21.

Sarah Bohan said she was nearing a personal marathon record when she spotted the kitten about five miles from the finish line.

She said, “It had to be all of 1 pound. Fur was matted and something clicked, and I was like, ‘This is more important.’ And I remember I the back of my mind being like, ‘Your PR [personal record] is going to go out the window. You aren’t going to make it.’ And it was just an instinct. It was human instinct.”

Sarah said she carried the kitten for about a mile alongside another runner (Gia Nigro) until they found some spectators who were excited to give the kitten a new home.

She finished the race with a time of 3 hours, 31 minutes and 13 seconds, a time he was happy with, even though it wasn’t a personal record.