Falls Church rolled out the welcome mat for runners taking part in a 485-mile relay between sites impacted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“Thank you all,” Mayor Letty Hardi said on Sunday after leading runners into the city at the end of their 6-mile segment from Vienna.
Approximately 45 runners from the Tunnel to Towers Foundation signed up to participate in segments of the 9/11 Remembrance Relay, which involves running from Shanksville, Pa., to New York City by way of the Pentagon.
All three were sites of forced crashes of planes during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The parking lot behind Dogwood Tavern served as a staging area, where the incoming runners handed off American flags to those who would finish up the day’s run at the Pentagon.
“The key is not overextending yourself,” said James Stanley, a member of the Old Town Run Club of Alexandria, which for the last three years has organized the event on behalf of Tunnel to Towers.
While the commemoration marks a somber event, the run “is always an upbeat event,” said race director Onofrio Margioni.
Like about 70% of club members, Margioni — a U.S. Navy officer — has connections to the military. He helped found the running club three years ago, and has seen it grow to 3,000 members.
Stanley said the club combines a competitive spirit with a sense of camaraderie.
“It’s a very social organization,” he said.
Another club member, Ramon Ramos, said different portions of the route provided differing degrees of difficulty.
“It’s challenging,” he told ARLnow.
The day had begun for the group at Dempsey’s Grille in Middletown, Md., where a breakfast of biscuits and gravy kicked off the push eastward toward the Pentagon. Residents of individual communities along the route were encouraged to run segments with the Old Town runners.
In addition to the participation of Mayor Hardi, Falls Church welcomed the runners to the city with a police escort.
