RED HOOK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- The Tunnel to Towers Foundation kicked off its 24th annual "5K Run and Walk" on Sunday honoring the fallen first responders of 9/11.

Nearly 40,000 people participated in the event, which takes place each year on the last Sunday of September.

What began with 1,500 people in 2002, one year after the terror attacks, is now considered by many to be one of the top 5K runs in America.

The event retraces the final footsteps of FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller on Sept. 11, 2001, from the foot of the Battery Tunnel in Brooklyn to the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan.

Assigned to FDNY's First Squad, Siller had just finished his shift and was on his way to play golf with his brothers when he heard over the radio that a plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center

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