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Hoda Kotb shares moving story about how her brother helped her finish a marathon

Hoda shared how her brother, Adel, inspired her to finish the Boston Marathon. "The last six miles I was dead. I was thinking I couldn't make it," she recalled.
/ Source: TODAY Contributor

Hoda Kotb is pretty lucky to have a brother who's willing to go the extra mile for her.

During TODAY with Hoda & Jenna on Monday, the TODAY anchor recalled a time when her brother, Adel, helped her get through a physically challenging situation.

Hoda told the story after she and Jenna Bush Hager discussed Jasmine Harrison, a 21-year-old who recently became the youngest woman to row solo across the Atlantic.

The two then began discussing how their own feats of endurance paled in comparison, and Hoda described an experience she had while once running the Boston Marathon.

"The last 6 miles I was dead. I was thinking I couldn't make it, and you know Boston has that Heartbreak Hill," she said. "My brother with his street shoes jumped in and ran the last 6 miles with me."

"Wait, what?" Jenna said. "Because you saw him and you just said, 'I don't know if I can,' or he could just read it in your eyes?"

"He just read it," Hoda said.

To this day, Hoda remembers every detail vividly, and recalled how her brother persevered to help encourage her.

"We crossed the finish line together and I remember it like it was yesterday," she said. "But it's so funny because that was a moment that we still talk about, and I still remember him with those loafers on."

"That's simply love at its best," Jenna said.

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has mostly kept Hoda and Adel apart, the siblings still have a tight bond. Hoda's family, including Adel and their sister, Hala, joined a Zoom call to celebrate her daughter Hope's 1st birthday last year.