Hundreds gather in Canonsburg for annual Tunnel to Towers 5K

CANONSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) – Hundreds of people gathered Saturday in Canonsburg for the Tunnel to Towers 5K.

It comes just four days before the U.S. marks 23 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Officers, firefighters, and community members ran for a purpose during the third edition of this 5K. Hundreds of people participated, over 500 to be exact. It's about 10% more than the 2023 edition.

Everyone here has a reason why they got up to run on Saturday.

"If you look around, there are signs of all the firefighters that died in the line of duty that day," Chief Philip Boggs of the McDonald Volunteer Fire Department said. "And we do this in full gear their honor."

They did it in all their gear—their firecoats and their tanks.

"It's not easy. We had to walk a little bit, there's a lot of hills, but we finished together," Boggs said.

Finishing together was the goal this morning, but for whom?

Shawn Hudzinski and his team from Allegheny County's Communities and Police Together remembered two officers who died in the line of duty.

"Both were killed in the line of duty in Allegheny County," Shawn Hudzinski, Deputy Chief for Port Authority Police of Allegheny County, said.

Tunnel to Towers started in honor of Stephen Siller, a man who courageously ran towards the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

"[Siller] geared up because he was not going to be able to drive through," Vince Faith, co-chairman of the Tunnel to Towers Pittsburgh 5K, said. "[He] ran through the tunnels to the towers, and then helped evacuate people."

So many people from western Pennsylvania and other places came to Canonsburg to honor the legacies of Siller and so many others.

"We have people that have flown in from Florida," Faith said. "We have people that have driven in from Ohio."

It didn't matter where they came from, or how difficult the course may have been.

Those here recognize those battles on the course aren't nearly as big as the ones their peers—those that came before them—made.

"We'd do three miles straight uphill if we had to," Boggs said. "The firefighters that gave their lives that day climbed stories upon stories of floors in the World Trade Center knowing full well that they might not come back out just to save lives in that building."

It's the heroics of that day, with every step, sponsor, and dollar raised, they want to ensure citizens never forget.

Organizers say outside of the New York City edition, the Pittsburgh/Canonsburg 5K has the most participation and raises the most money in the nation.