Meet the heroes who helped runner in need cross finish line

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Call this "the next step" in the story of the weekend. Two local men made national news for taking time out of a race to help someone else out. Monday, they paid a visit to Good Day Philadelphia to explain exactly what happened.

FOX 29 News caught the special moment at Sunday’s Philadelphia Love Run Half-Marathon.

A young woman was struggling to finish the monster race and clearly looked fatigued. That’s when Joseph McGinty and Bryan Crnkovic -- wearing green in the video -- sacrificed their own time and grabbed her before she fell.

Crnkovic and another man -- who was wearing blue -- helped her move along until McGinty returned, picked her up and carried her to the finish line. Then, she got to finish on her own.

Who said running marathons or half-marathons can’t be a team sport?

Mcginty and Crnkovic said it happened about 100 yards from the finish line. They saw her legs giving out.

As for why they stopped, it was simply what they do.

They said slowing down to help her wasn’t much of a sacrifice for them because they weren’t trying to beat any records. For them, it was simply another day of running, and they run around that area every weekend.

They also credit the running community for looking out for each other.

After, someone asked if she needed medical attention and they said ‘yes,’ so medics brought a wheelchair for her and they walked off as if nothing had happened.

Later, Crnkovic said his cousin Bill called and told him he was all over the news and Facebook -- but they had no idea how popular the story became until their appearance on Good Day and FOX 29's Alex Holley showed them several of the nice comments people made on social media.