“The thing that always gets me about this race is, it’s a race,” Kerri Kiefer, one of Michael Kiefer’s two younger sisters, said, “but our brother did this as just a workout on his lunch break. Just swim, paddle, run.” The three-part challenge has become an annual memorial event, honoring the young man who protected the residents of Long Beach and beyond.

Kiefer was a Franklin Square native who grew up knowing, unquestionably, that he would be a firefighter. After working his way through the Franklin Square, Freeport and Hempstead fire departments, the 25-year-old eventually earned a spot in the New York City department, with Ladder 132. Kiefer had served for less than a year on Sept. 11. 2001, when he responded to the attack on the World Trade Center’s south tower, where he and four members of his ladder company died.

In his life of service, Kiefer spent time not only fighting fires, but protecting those in the water as Long Beach lifeguards. “I was his lieutenant down in the West End,” Chief of Lifeguards Rich Borawski recalled. “Great, great individual. He loved to work out. Loved the job. He was amazing.”

Since 2002, the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation has helped coordinate an annual memorial race, inviting individual athletes and two- to three-person teams to take part in an intense multi-leg event: a 150-yard run to the shoreline, a 400-yard swim, a half-mile paddle on a surfboard and a 1½- mile run on the beach. The race was set up at Riverside Boulevard on July 26, with the run portion comprising laps on the sand between Monroe and Edwards boulevards.

Doreen Candon, 67, of Long Beach, has been competing in the event for decades. “I think from the beginning, I’ve done it,” she said.

In 2024, Candon finished second in the women’s individual race. This year, as she has done in previous races, she entered both the individual race and the team relay. “I do the team with my kids,” she said. Candon recalled that her sons Joe, John and Brendan used to play on the beach where Kiefer was a lifeguard.

That lifeguard connection is central to the community that comes together to remember Kiefer each year. “It was a great turnout,” Cliff Skudin, one of the event organizers, said as the day wound down. “A lot of lifeguards, some retired lifeguards. People that knew Mike. Some of the new school, up and coming [lifeguards]. It’s just great to keep the race alive.”

Kerri Kiefer noted the coordinated efforts of the city, which provided a podium and other equipment, as well as former City Councilman John McLoughlin and John Skudin, who spearheaded the event — Skudin Surf donated the boards for the paddle portion. The synchronized work to stage the annual race is a reflection of Kiefer’s impact on the city.

“Long Beach is such a tight community, even locals from the area, they know his name,” Kerri Kiefer said. “They knew him as a lifeguard, but they also knew him as a surfer and a swimmer. He swam at the Long Beach Rec Center.”

Lauren Kiefer, Michael’s other younger sister, has watched the race grow since it was created over two decades ago. “It’s nice to see lifeguards who Michael worked with,” she said. “They originally did the race on their own. Now they’re doing it with their kids, who they’ve taught about Michael.”

While the day’s primary purpose is to memorialize a local first responder lost in the Sept. 11 attacks, the first-rate competition is also a motivator for many participants. Awards were given to the top three male and female finishers, the top three male and female firefighters, the top three male and female lifeguards, and the top three relay teams.

“Every year, it’s beautiful,” Lauren Kiefer said. “The lifeguards do such a great job in remembering our brother, year after year. And it being 25 years out, and the fact that they’re still doing this, it truly means a lot to our family.”