GLENDALE – One by one they climbed, many with heavy gear and even heavier hearts, up the stairs of State Farm Stadium on Friday.
Thousands of Arizonans gathered at the football facility for the 9/11 Tower Challenge to honor first responders who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, and to those who continue to serve.
Twenty-five years have passed since the coordinated terrorist attacks that saw two planes crash into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon and a fourth that crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew members launched a counterattack.
Participants climbed 2,071 steps, the exact number of stairs in each of the Twin Towers. The event was held in memory of the 343 firefighters, 71 law enforcement officers and eight paramedics who died in the line of duty at the World Trade Center.
Similar events were held around the country, including in Tucson.
Although many of the participants were first responders, many others were not, yet they all gathered for a common cause.
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