Runners from blast-canceled N.J. race return to the streets

WOOLAND PARK, N.J. — Eight days after bombs exploded at a Seaside Park, N.J., charity race and later on a street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, runners from New Jersey and beyond descended on New York City Sunday to honor first responders and raise money to help wounded servicemen.

The 15th Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Run drew thousands to the starting line in Brooklyn and the finish point in lower Manhattan, where security was heightened but spirits were high.

“We are going to keep running,” said Mary Ellen Moore, of Haddonfield, N.J., who had planned to take part in the Seaside Park event on Sept. 17 that was canceled after a pipe bomb exploded in a trash can along the route of the run. “This is sort of a reclamation.”

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In New York Sunday, several bomb-sniffing dogs and their handlers could be seen around the finish line before and during the race. Uniformed officers from the New York Police Department and the New York State Police also maintained a visible presence.

But despite the ramped-up security, the atmosphere of the race was cheerful in contrast to the mood of the city a week ago when authorities were on the hunt for the bombing suspect. On Sunday, several participants and spectators said they would not allow the bombings to dissuade them from attending Sunday’s run.

Robert Schenk of Brick, N.J., said he was a bit apprehensive about the run, because he had been at the Seaside Park event. But any fears disappeared, he said, when he stood in line for a water taxi to Brooklyn, where he noticed beefed-up security and checks.

“No water, no bags, everybody was watched for what they were bringing,” Schenk said. “You get a little more comforted regarding security.”

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Following the bomb explosion in Seaside Park, which caused the cancellation of the Seaside Semper Five, the organizers of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Run invited the registrants for the Jersey Shore race to participate in their event free of charge. As of Saturday, more than 100 Semper Five participants had registered for the New York race and more were expected to sign up Sunday morning, said Harry Hammel, an event spokesman.

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Both events raise money for injured servicemen.

Frank Costello, race director for the Seaside Park run, was among those who participated Sunday. Sporting a red Semper Five Run shirt, Costello said he was overwhelmed with the generosity of the New York race organizers, calling the invitation “classy.”

Costello, like many others at the race, said he was not concerned about security. “They do a super job here,” he said.

Costello was joined by his brother-in-law and Semper Five race committee member, Tom Nugent of Toms River, N.J., who recalled the blast in Seaside Park. Nugent said he had been a little more than two blocks from the site of the explosion.

“At first I said, “That’s bigger than a firecracker,’” Nugent recalled. “You don’t stop to think about bombs and explosions in Seaside. ... This time of the year it gets very quiet — there’s only a few of the locals walking and riding their bikes. Luckily everybody was far enough away that the shrapnel from the garbage can didn’t affect anybody.”

Between 1,600 to 2,000 were registered for the shore race, Costello said, and he thought about 200 of them participated in Sunday’s race.

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The Seaside Semper Five was to have been in its third year and was intended to support the U.S. Marine Corps and the Marines Special Operations Command Foundation.

The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers is named after a 34-year-old New York firefighter who died on Sept. 11, 2001, in the terrorist attacks. Siller, a father of five, had just finished a shift at his firehouse in Brooklyn when he heard on a scanner that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. By the time he drove to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel it had been closed so he strapped on his firefighting gear and ran through the tunnel to the Twin Towers, where he later died.

Siller’s family launched the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation in his honor. The event, where participants retrace Stiller’s footsteps on 9/11, raises money to build smart homes for catastrophically injured servicemen. Homes are custom designed to meet individuals’ needs.

The event, which draws runners from around the world, brought first responders from North Jersey to participate including police officers from Ridgefield Park, a contingent of more than 25 representing the Wyckoff Fire Department, and more than 60 from the Newark Fire Department, many of whom wore their bunker coats as they ran.

Police arrested and charged Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, of Elizabeth, N.J., in connection with the bombings in Chelsea and at the Seaside Park race.

Prosecutors said that Rahami, a U.S. citizen who was born in Afghanistan, planned the explosions for months, bought materials for bombs online and set off a backyard blast for practice.

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Five more bombs, of which one was accidentally detonated by police, were discovered near the Elizabeth train station last Monday.

Rahami was shot multiple times in a shootout with police and severely injured before his arrest in Linden. He remains in a hospital after undergoing surgery.

Rahami was charged with using and attempting to use weapons of mass destruction, bombing and attempting to bomb a place of public use. He is also charged with attempted murder of police officers.

Contributing: Matthew McGrath, The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record. Follow Monsy Alvarado on Twitter: @MonsyAlvarado