Team Allied Services becomes personal for Mountain Top man this year
When Jim Brogna starts across the Verrazano Bridge on Staten Island at the beginning of the TCS New York City Marathon on November 4, it will mark the third time the Mountain Top man has participated in the world’s largest marathon.
But this year the 26.5-mile race will have an added meaning for him. This year, it is personal. 
That’s because this year the 48-year-old Brogna will be running in memory of Paul Harrington and Marion Yudiski Flannelly, two beloved Allied Services Integrated Health System colleagues who passed away over the last year. “Every other year, it’s been for fun and to raise money. It’s personal this year,” he offered.
Brogna will participate in the marathon as a member of WNEP-TV Team Allied Services team which has raised $2.6 million over the last eight years to help Allied Services provide much needed services to children and adults with disabilities and life-changing injuries. The team is led by WNEP-TV personality Ryan Leckey.
“I’m honored to be the final runner enlisted to participate in the TCS New York City Marathon this November 4 with the WNEP-TV Team Allied Services team,” said Brogna, Vice President for Corporate Advancement and Communications at Allied Services. A veteran of eight marathons overall, Brogna is sponsored by Highmark and United Concordia Dental. “I’m humbly appreciative of their support as well as for choosing me as their representative runner,” he commented.
Brogna’s fundraiser has just begun with the first $5,000 being dedicated to Allied Services Hospice Center in memory of Harrington. He will also be raising funds in Harrington’s memory for pediatric speech and language therapy to which he dedicated his entire professional life.
His other focus will be to honor Yudiski Flannelly, a longtime registered nurse at Heinz Rehab Hospital who passed away suddenly this past summer. “She was a ray of light whether having an impact in orthopedics or with our brain injury rehab team,” Brogna said.
For Leckey, this year’s New York City Marathon will be his seventh and fourteenth overall. In addition to training for the race, Leckey puts in countless hours promoting and raising money for Allied Services through Team Allied Services. The WNEP-TV personality says the effort is well worth it. “I love using this media platform for the greater good,”
