Local firefighters run
in gear and compete
for Siller Cup

The Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation 5K Run/Walk hosts its Tunnel to Towers 5K Run/Walk nationwide each year. This year, the Asheville Tunnel to Towers 5K is set for Aug. 19.

Tunnel to Towers is dedicated to the memory of FDNY hero, and father of five, Stephen Siller, who lost his life on 9/11. Stephen, who was off-duty when the first plane hit, drove to his Brooklyn firehouse and retrieved over 60 pounds of his gear, then sought the quickest route to the World Trade Center. Finding the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel blocked, in a supreme act of heroism, Stephen ran about three miles with that gear, to the Twin Towers, where he perished.

The Asheville Tunnel to Towers 5K  will honor and celebrate City of Asheville’s first responders — fire, police, EMTs and paramedics — as well as military service heroes who serve, sacrifice and protect us every day.

Asheville’s Tunnel to Towers 5K Run/Walk will start at Spruce Street and will wind its way up Beaucatcher Mountain, through the tunnel and back to Spruce Street. Registration for the 5K Run/Walk is open and participants may register online at T2TRUN.org.

Even if you don’t run or walk yourself, come on out to cheer local firefighters as they run in gear and compete for Siller Cup. It’s really something to watch!

Asheville’s 5K Run/Walk is one of dozens of 5K Runs/Walks held around the United States in support of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to honor and support first responders and the military. Its signature event is its annual Tunnel to Towers 5K Run/Walk held in New York City each September. The event, which draws 25,000 participants from all over the world, follows in Stephen’s heroic footsteps on 9/11.

For more information on Asheville’s Tunnel to Towers 5K Run/Walk, please visit T2TRUN.org.