It was going to be a marathon through the Big Apple, but now it’s a race to get help to those in need. About two hours, a flurry of phone calls and the determination of the human spirit when others are in need is all it took for a local team of New York City Marathon runners to turn a negative into a positive.

“The minute we heard that the marathon was canceled, we, as a team, said, ‘How can we help? We have to do something and put this race day to good use,’ ” Ryan Leckey of WNEP-TV said.

This is the third year he and a group of local people were a part of the marathon. Instead of chalking the cancellation of the event up to a loss, “Ryan’s Run 3,” or “RR3,” was turned into “Ryan’s Recovery,” a collection event for the victims of Hurricane Sandy that was held Sunday afternoon at the Allied Services Scranton campus and Heinz Rehab Hospital in Wilkes-Barre Township.

“We are 15 minutes into this and there’s already 30 cars waiting to drop things off,” Leckey said of the turnout at the Scranton Allied location. “It’s so impressive, and so inspiring.”

The Wilkes-Barre Township location was seeing much of the same.

“This was to start at noon and it wasn’t even 11 o’clock yet and we had people lined up in this parking lot waiting to give,” said Jim Brogna, assistant vice president of advancement at Allied and a Ryan’s Run team member.

The decision concerning the marathon had been controversial leading up to and even after its cancellation, and Brogna said some team members were feeling the conflict themselves.

“We have a member whose family was flooded here last year, and he said, ‘Did you go jog through their neighborhood after it happened?’ It tears your heart out to think we were going to potentially run in something like that.”

Either way, the team was planning to move forward with the marathon.

“You know, we were doing it for the people we raise awareness and money for, and we wanted to show them that quitting is just not an option,” Leckey said. “But I have to say, when it was canceled I think most of us felt a sense of relief.”

As car after car pulled up in the Heinz parking lot, Brogna’s sense of relief over what happened with the marathon quickly turned to something much more.

“This is heartwarming,” he said. “The human spirit. … it’s incredible.”

People dropped off everything from cleaning supplies to clothes and children’s toys. Local trucking company Road Scholar Transport provided the tractor-trailer for the load, with president Jim Barrett telling Brogna he would take the supplies wherever he needed.

All of the proceeds raised for Ryan’s Run will stay locally through Allied, and Allied Services has donated a dollar for each employee to the NYC Mayor’s Hurricane Relief Fund, totaling a $3,200 donation.

So, just how will the team determine where to send things? To the areas that need it most, Brogna said, something it can figure out because one of its own is currently in Staten Island, lending a hand.

“I was going through the Lincoln Tunnel on Friday when they announced the marathon was canceled,” said Jason Rippon, a runner and owner of McDonald’s eateries in Lock Haven and Lewisburg. “I still went to the expo center and registered and I started seeking people out, seeing what they were doing, seeing how I could help. I found a group of marathoners who were heading out to help and hooked up with them, and we’ve been doing what we can ever since.”

Rippon said he can see things starting to come back to life through the devastation, though there’s much work to be done. The amount of help he has seen from marathoners alone has lifted his spirits.

“There are people from all over the world helping out,” he said. “A group of young ladies from London were carrying supplies around the other day. It’s incredible. I feel better being here; I feel like I’ve accomplished something.”

Brogna came to find there were people in his life, unexpectedly, that had family in the affected areas and knew just where supplies were going to be needed. He has worked with John Hinds, a cook at Allied, for years, and didn’t realize he was raised in Seaside Heights.

“It’s my hometown,” Hinds said as he opened up his jacket to reveal a T-shirt with “Jersey Shore” emblazoned on it among pictures of the area. Tears threatened to spill over as he continued, “My godchildren that live there, they lost everything.”

“That picture of the rollercoaster in Seaside? We were just on it, over the summer with our son,” John’s wife, Chris, said, recalling how watching the superstorm coverage made her sick to her stomach. “It was the first time we were down there in five years, and now … it’s just gone.”

Despite the tragedy, John said days like Sunday help to alleviate some of the pain.

“It’s wonderful to see this, to see people so willing to help out.”

Leckey echoes John’s sentiment.

“It’s inspiring and impressive. I’ve always said it: Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania are packed with people with big hearts.”

After the cancellation of the ING New York City Marathon following Hurricane Sandy, area runners as part of “Ryan’s Run 3″ put marathon day to good use. “Ryan’s Run” became “Ryan’s Recovery” on Sunday. Check out this clip to see how people here at home gave back in a big way to those trying to rebound from the recent storm.

COLLECTION EVENT:
Sunday, November 4th
TIME:
Noon – 3:00PM
LOCATIONS:
Allied Services Scranton Campus – 475 Morgan Highway,
& Heinz Rehab Hospital , 150 Mundy Street, Wilkes-Barre.

According to relief workers in disaster zones, here are the NEW supplies that are desperately needed:

• Household Cleaning Supplies (bleach, buckets, brushes, rubber gloves, disinfectants)
• Towels
• Washcloths
• Sheets
• Blankets
• Generators
• Flashlights
• Battery operated items such as: Radios, Coffee Makers, Phone Chargers, etc.
• Notebooks
• Pens
• Children’s Activities
• Crayons
• Coloring Books
• Markers
• Games
• Travel size games
• Baseballs/Footballs/Basketballs
• NEW T-shirts
• Different sizes of NEW underwear

Ryan’s Run 3 benefits kids and adults with disabilities at Allied Services. Supplies collected will be driven to disaster zones in the following days. All money raised from the RR3 campaign over the past several weeks will stay in Northeastern & Central Pennsylvania.

Thank you to all the Athletes, who came together to raise funds for kids and adults with disabilities at Allied Services as part of “Lift Like Leckey!”

The “Ryan’s Run 3″ campaign continues and with it, some businesses including “First National Community Bank” have stepped in to support the cause. See programs they’re offering for kids to learn money matters and meet an Allied patient who’s life you’re helping to change. “Ryan’s Run” benefits kids and adults with disabilities at Allied Services.

A dozen runners from Luzerne County will participate in the New York Marathon to help raise funds for Allied Services.

The runners will be part of Team Leckey, led by Ryan Leckey, WNEP TV reporter and anchor and participate in the largest sporting event in the world some 45,000 runners take part.

The runners are:

Jim Brogna, Mountain Top, assistant vice president of Advancement at Allied Services. He has friends who have had children born with disabilities, others who have endured life-altering injuries, and has relatives who need the highest quality rehab.

Steven Davidowitz, Dallas, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Gabon and Central Africa. He is now a registered representative with Sammons Securities andserves on the board of governors of Generation to Generation and the Board of Trustees of Temple Israel.

Diane Dixon, White Haven, a physical therapy assistant for Allied Services for 29 years. She has worked for the last 16 years in the aquatic therapy program at Heinz Rehab in Wilkes-Barre. Although she was always a sports enthusiast, she didn’t start running until the age of 36, mostly to relieve stress and to get healthy. One year later, she ran the 1995 New York City marathon, and has been running marathons, half marathons, and 5Ks since.

Melissa ‘Lissa’ Krahnke, Wilkes Barre, a radio personality and musician originally from Michigan. She moved to Northeastern Pennsylvania in 2010 to be on-air at 98.5 WKRZ, where she produces and co-hosts the morning show and a syndicated rock show on the weekends called The Tour Bus. She performs original blues music, piano & vocals, along the east coast.

Chris Langley, Kingston, director of the Systems Improvement Department at Allied. He recently earned his ISSA personal training certification and has been training for over eight months, and running for the past decade.

Eric McCabe, Kingston, branch manager and vice president of McCabe Mortgage Group, and past president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, Northeast Chapter, he has previously completed the New York City marathon, the Philadelphia marathon, the Pittsburgh marathon and the Steamtown marathon. He has also overcome the challenges of the Lake Placid Ironman and the JFK 50 Mile Ultramarathon.

Michael McCabe, Kingston, big brother and training partner of Eric McCabe. He is a heavy equipment operator, as well as a U.S. Army veteran. While stationed in Italy, he was a member of an Airborne Battalion Combat Team, where he earned his British paratrooper wings. He had the privilege of participating in the 45th Anniversary of D-Day ceremony by parachuting into the town of Saint-Mere Eglise while WWII veterans observed from the ground.

Angela Montagna, Suscon, who won a place on Team Leckey thanks to a contest held by Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. She’s a first time marathoner but has run various half-marathons in Philadelphia and New York, and has completed the 13.2-mile Tough Mudder in the Poconos last May. She is a special education teacher at Newton-Ransom Elementary School.

John and Katie Parsons of Bear Creek have competed in half marathons and triathlons the last several years locally. Both are active in community, school and philanthropic organizations.

Jane Smedley, Kingston, who father, Dr. William Smedley, suffered a ventricular fibrillation with secondary brain anoxia, and later became a patient in the brain trauma unit at Heinz Rehab Hospital, where the nursing staff saved him from a devastating bought of sepsis. For the next five years, he was an intermittent patient in the Senior Care Facility. Three years later, Jane’s younger brother Anthony was in an auto accident where he broke his lower vertebrae, femur, tibia, fibula, ankle, and nose, shattered his right hip, and suffered a concussion as he landed on his head. His therapists at Heinz took him from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane, to nothing at all.

Theresa Stook, Mountain Top is a physical therapist at Heinz Rehab’s Sports and Medicine Center whose father got her hooked on running when she was in junior high school. She’s done other charity runs and bike rides, but the New York City Marathon will be her first marathon.

In the last two years, Ryan’s Run has raised more than $340,000 for children and adults with disabilities. From providing services

To donate or learn more make a donation to Ryan’s Run 3 in the name of any Luzerne County runner, call 570-348-1407 or pledge online.

Join WNEP-TV’s Ryan Leckey and the Team Leckey runners for the final RR3 party before they take on the ING NYC Marathon. Don’t forget to dress the part — there will be a Halloween costume cotnest! All funds raised will benefit children and adults with disabilities and life-changing injuries served by Allied Services.

$10 donation at the door, includes Miller Lite draft and hors d’oeuvres. Get in the Halloween spirit and rock a costume — you’ll be in with a chance to win a great prize! Spooktacular Halloween drink specials include $2 domestic draft and bottle beers, $4 featured wines, and $4 featured martinis and mixers.