Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk Orlando<\/a> was held one day after the 25th anniversary of the attacks.<\/p>\nMore than 400 first responders participated, including 15 Seminole County firefighters. Families, members of the military and other people from across the community also ran, walked or cheered from the sidelines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so proud of this community,\u201d Orlando 5K Race Director Kyle Albano said. \u201cThe Altamonte Springs mayor has always stood behind us and really, really been there for us. This year, with over 2,000 people plus, it\u2019s been a complete success. I couldn\u2019t be happier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some firefighters completed the course in more than 30 pounds of bunker pants, gloves, helmets and other gear. Others added air packs weighing another 30 pounds.<\/p>\n
The event brought together firefighters who remember 9\/11 and younger firefighters who were too young to remember or had not yet been born. Seminole County Fire estimates about 60% of its firefighters are not old enough to remember the attacks.<\/p>\n
Firefighter EMT Trail Drummond was born in 1999. This was his first year participating in the race.<\/p>\n
Drummond said learning more about 9\/11 in the fire academy helped him understand the responsibility that comes with his profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in the fire academy learning about the events of 9\/11 more in depth, it made me realize what I was signing up for and how this isn\u2019t just another job,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cEvery day, something catastrophic could happen. And I know that I need to go in there and save the day. And I know that that\u2019s what I signed up for, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to go do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drummond ran cross-country in middle and high school. He said the 5K allowed him to use his experience as a runner to support others while honoring firefighters he never knew personally.<\/p>\n
He also said younger firefighters learn by watching senior members of the department, including how they perform tasks and respond to calls.<\/p>\n
Lt. Anthony Bowman had just graduated from high school in 2001. He said watching the selfless actions of first responders on 9\/11 ultimately pushed him to become a firefighter.<\/p>\n
Bowman has participated in the Orlando event every year it has been held in Altamonte Springs, which started 14 years ago.<\/p>\n
Pictures and names of firefighters killed on 9\/11 were displayed along the final stretch of the course.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a bunch of posters of the firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice that day,\u201d Bowman said. \u201cSo when we run down that last little stretch, we get a chance to see their picture, see their name, what truck company or engine company they were on. It\u2019s kind of a surreal feeling because it\u2019s just the emotions that overcome you when you\u2019re running that race and you know the reason why you\u2019re there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event honors New York City firefighter Stephen Siller. Organizers said Siller was off duty when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. He returned to his Brooklyn firehouse, grabbed his gear and ran nearly two miles through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to reach his squad.<\/p>\n
His sacrifice inspired the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, and the races now held across the country.<\/p>\n
Money raised through the Orlando event supports the foundation\u2019s Fallen First Responder, Gold Star Family and Smart Home programs, as well as its Homeless Veteran Program initiative.<\/p>\n
For Drummond, participating was also about making sure his generation continues the tradition of honoring the firefighters who came before them.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I wasn\u2019t around to remember the events of 9\/11, you still see it, you know, push through each generation,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s important for us to make sure those people are not forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. \u2014 More than 2,000 runners and walkers filled Cranes Roost Park Saturday morning to honor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1011,1013,274,3949,1190,2204,115,139,141,140,3883,1014,278,2032,835],"class_list":["post-398003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-app-human-interest","tag-app-latest-human-interest-stories","tag-app-top-stories","tag-bryanna-howard","tag-human-interest","tag-instagram-n13","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-seminole","tag-seminole-county","tag-top-stories","tag-trending-topics","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}