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Runners sidelined by bomb blast take to streets of NYC

Robert Schenk, of Brick N.J., nears the finish line during the "Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers" memorial event in New York, Sunday, Sept. 25 2016. The sponsors of the run honoring New York firefighter Stephen Siller, who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, invited participants, including Schenk, of the Seaside, N.J., Semper Five Marine Corps charity run that was cancelled last week after a pipe bomb exploded along the route. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Robert Schenk, of Brick N.J., nears the finish line during the "Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers" memorial event in New York, Sunday, Sept. 25 2016. The sponsors of the run honoring New York firefighter Stephen Siller, who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, invited participants, including Schenk, of the Seaside, N.J., Semper Five Marine Corps charity run that was cancelled last week after a pipe bomb exploded along the route. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) Robert Schenk, of Brick N.J., nears the finish line during the "Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers" memorial event in New York, Sunday, Sept. 25 2016. The sponsors of the run honoring New York firefighter Stephen Siller, who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, invited participants, including Schenk, of the Seaside, N.J., Semper Five Marine Corps charity run that was cancelled last week after a pipe bomb exploded along the route. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

By Associated Press 2 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – A group of runners whose New Jersey race was canceled after a pipe bomb exploded on the route linked arms as they joined a New York City race Sunday, and said they had no fear about taking part.

The racers, wearing matching white T-shirts, were among the 30,000 participants in the annual Tunnel to Towers Run, joining firefighters in full gear and wounded veterans. The run traces the route of off-duty firefighter Stephen Siller, who died after running from Brooklyn to the World Trade Center on 9/11. Proceeds go to building smart homes for wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

On Sept. 17, the pipe bomb went off on the course of the Semper Five charity 5K in Seaside Park, New Jersey. No one was injured.

Robert Schenk, a Brick, New Jersey, resident who had been at the Seaside Park starting line, said he “didn’t hesitate one second” to sign up for the Tunnel to Towers race and was “just nervous” to finish it, like any other race.

“I feel fortunate given everything last weekend that I’m able to get up and do it,” said Schenk, a 55-year-old program manager in communications for the U.S. Army.