On Sunday Sept. 28 John and I participated in the Tunnel to Towers Race in New York City.Actually, I don't hurt as badly as I thought I would. My time was 41:59. John's was 31:09, despite no warmup, and heavy traffic in the tunnel (the first 1.2 miles of the race was through the Brooklyn Battery tunnel.
There were 15000 runners. Big music and all. Michael Israel painted a painting live both before and after the race. I met up with the friend who talked me into this: Battalion Chief Mike Gala of Brooklyn. This is a picture of Mike & Anthony, John and me.
Coming out of the tunnel there were 686 FDNY members in full dress uniform - 343 each with a banner and photo of a member killed on the 11th, and 343 more holding American flags. Gospel choirs, HS bands and cheerleading teams lined the course. Many military groups ran in formation.
Some firemen did it in full turnout gear (the way Stephen Siller did it on the 11th). Proud to say I passed them. One man did it in a wheelchair (I passed him, too, until another fireman started pushing him).
I held on emotionally pretty well until after the race when the FDNY Emerald Society (bag)Pipe & Drum corps marched slowly past us, followed by all the members carrying the banners and flags. That's when I lost it. John did too, and a woman put her arm around him and said, "Oh, I'm sorry... who was he?" So many people there were running in honor of a particular fireman that she just assumed he was, too.
I'm very proud of John. He's clearly NOT a big city boy, but he put up with the traffic, the crowds, trying to find a parking spot, and everything. I wouldn't have done this without company, and I'm glad he made it possible for me to run.
