That Moment When The Philadelphia Love Run Lived Up To Its Name

This video has gone viral, and for good reason. Via the Washington Post... 

As 21-year-old Haley Klinger neared the finish line at Love Run Half Marathon in Philadelphia, her legs started to buckle. 

Video footage from Sunday’s race shows the young woman stop, grimace and reach down toward her feet. Without missing a step, two fellow runners grab her under her arms and carry her along with them. 

That was the moment triathlete Joseph McGinty, 31, turned around to find his training buddy, 45-year-old Bryan Crnkovic. He saw Crnkovic and the other man, who has not been publicly identified, helping an exhausted woman finish the race. 

So McGinty ran back and scooped her up in his arms. 

“I saw she almost fell to the ground, so I grabbed her and said, ‘Let’s go,’ ” McGinty told The Washington Post on Tuesday. He added: “It was instinct. Someone was in need and I wanted to help.” 

Feet from the finish line, McGinty set Klinger down to let her cross it on her own. Medics put Klinger, who was exhausted and dehydrated, in a wheelchair.

One of the helpers, Joseph McGinty knew exactly what it was like to be in Klinger's shoes. An article over at Runner's World explains...

McGinty...recalled the Challenge Atlantic City race two years ago in which he was attempting to set a personal record in a triathlon of Ironman distance. In the last two miles of the marathon, he hit the wall and started to unravel. His father joined him for the finish. "He pushed me to get across that finish line, and if I can ever help anybody out like that, that’s what I want to do, and that’s what I did for her," said McGinty, who fell just 18 seconds short of a personal best that day. "Knowing in my heart I didn’t give up is just as good as a PR. You just never want to give up in life."

Appropriately enough, McGinty and his friend have been labeled "Good Samaritans." Indeed, because of them, the Philadelphia Love Run lived up to its name--philia, "brotherly love."

Running creates family bonds. The struggle to finish connects people from all different ages, abilities, and backgrounds. On the course, sometimes things go well and we can celebrate together. Other times stuff goes sideways. And when that happens, we are comforted by the fact that we are not alone.

Happy trails, friends.