Tunnel to Towers 5K commemorates 9/11 anniversary
As bagpipes played during the morning sunrise, over 750 participants in the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk gathered at Huizenga Park in Fort Lauderdale for the start of the annual event commemorating 9/11.
Hurricane Irma delayed the original date of the race by two weeks, but many of the runners remained committed to the memories of the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice on that tragic day 16 years ago.
First responders wore their full firefighter gear, police uniforms and swat gear, which was reminiscent of when New York City firefighter Stephen Siller donned his gear and ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to Manhattan’s World Trade Center to join his fellow firefighters.
The Fort Lauderdale race course had the participants running through the Henry E. Kinney Tunnel and back to the downtown finish line at Huizenga Park.
Eric Kessler crossed the finish line first to take the men’s division championship in a time of just under 19 minutes (18:29). He was followed by Steven Schiff (19:20) and Philip Miscione (19:59) to round out the top three.
The women’s division winner was Lauren Cuenant (22:50), with Celeste Allen (24:13) earning runner-up recognition and Liz Burke (24:26) finishing third.
Kessler, 26, of Boca Raton, entered the Siller 5K run for the first time.
“This was for a good cause and I’m starting my racing season now,” Kessler said. “My cousin has been a firefighter for over 20 years, so this has a special meaning for me. The adrenalin gets you going.
The pride over being involved in this memorial athletic endeavor outweighed how one did in the run/ walk.
“Winning is never the biggest thing for me,” Kessler said. “I go for time and I wish it was faster, but I enjoyed the race.”
Cuenant, a medical student at Nova Southeastern University, took some time away from her studies and to escape the hurricane fatigue. The Fort Lauderdale resident has a cross-country background.
“This is my second time attending this race. It has such a good energy compared with so many of the other races down here,” Cuenant said. “They put such a great effort in this race making it very celebratory for the cause and it’s really beautiful with the American flags everywhere. Everyone is really excited and it’s a fun race.”
Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan addressed the crowd at the starting line and ran the race wearing about 35 pounds of firefighter gear.
“I’ve seen this every year with the first responders running across the finish line with full gear on and you come to realize what this race is really about with a young man (Stephen Siller) putting his bunker gear on to run through the tunnel to join his unit, while giving up his life,” Ryan said. “It’s the least we can do. The first responders do this every day putting their lives on the line and they are heroes.”
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