Tunnel to Towers 5K Run to Commemorate Sacrifice of 9/11 First Responders

Residents will have the opportunity this Sept. 11 to honor the memory of those who died on 9/11 with the Tunnels to Tower run.

The Tunnels to Tower Run is a 5-kilometer race held in New York City beginning in 2002 in memory of Stephen Siller. Siller was a New York City firefighter who was on his way home from work when he heard the South Tower was hit by a plane. He became stuck in traffic so he strapped on 75 pounds of equipment and ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the towers where he was killed.

The run retraces Sillers route. Participants wear firefighting equipment to honor his sacrifice. 

This year, the 10th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, 50 communities from across the county, including Wayne, are holding their own runs. Wayne is the only municipality in the state hosting the event. The goal is to have 343 municipalities participate, one for each of the first responders who died in the attacks.

“It our hope that this event won’t just be a one-time occurrence. We hope it will continue to happen,” said Maria Balarin, a town resident and one of the event’s organizers. “This event changed everyone’s lives. It needs to be remembered every year, especially in this area of the county. We were so close to it.”

Seven people from Wayne were killed in 9/11.

The run costs $30 to join. Most of the proceeds will be donated to The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports families with active members of the military. About 25 percent of the proceeds will be donated to municipal first responders.

Volunteers are needed to stand at water stations, start and finish lines and to help prepare for the event.

Balarin’s son Austin, a junior fireman, participated in the run last year. Austin raised $455 for the Steven Siller Children’s Foundation.

“This event symbolizes what we stand for, especially on that day,” Austin said. “We didn’t give up and Stephen didn’t give up. How can we ever forget that? We can’t.”

Maria said the even is not just a way to honor those who gave their lives that day, it is a way to honor the first responders, public servants and the members of the military who risk their lives for us everyday.

“There are members of the military who get deployed for a year at a time, sometimes longer, to serve their country,” Balarin said. “Some of them come back with devastating injuries. We have to do whatever we can to honor those who serve and sacrifice so we can enjoy the freedoms that we do.”

Timothy Collins, a township employee who is organizing the event with Balarin, said he vividly remembers what happened in town on 9/11.

“I remember the Board of Education was considering whether or not to cancel school and it was decided that the best place to keep the kids was in school where we knew where they were,” Collins said.

The 5-kilmeter run will begin at Wayne Valley High School and end at the township’s 9/11 memorial where a brief ceremony will take place. There will be no separate memorial service held that day.

“I think Wayne is going to set the standard for the area in terms of showing people how a community can come together and truly band together to honor those who need to be honored,” Collins said. “What happened that day is something that, I think, you never forget. We certainly never will here.”

For more information visit www.letusdogoodwayne.org or call Barlarin at 862-221-9745.