More than 500 people gathered at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota this weekend for the Suncoast’s first-ever 9/11 stair climb, ascending six flights and over 200 stairs at the park’s tower. The climb honored the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, including the 343 firefighters who climbed the World Trade Center towers that morning.
Among the participants was Ryan Burns, a firefighter from Venice, who said the physical challenge is the easy part, and that’s exactly the point. “It should be one of the easiest things you should be able to do, when it was the hardest day of the lives of some of those guys,” he said. The event also brought out a new generation: 24-year-old organizer Emma Anthony, the park’s events coordinator, wasn’t yet born when the towers fell, and she helped bring the tribute to life.
Organizers say they hope to make the stair climb an annual tradition on the Suncoast, giving the community a way to remember together every September. Would you climb 200 stairs to honor the heroes of 9/11? Let us know in the comments.
