Alumni racing update: Tunnels to Towers

Listen. I’m always proud of our Marist Running Alums when they represent themselves as Forever Foxes in road races (see previous post). But on Sunday at the Tunnels to Towers 5K, honoring the FDNY Fallen Heroes from 9/11, Kyle Hannafin was fortunate enough to WIN the race. Rather than my continuing to gush about how proud I am of Kyle, and all that his victory means to him and his family, I asked him to provide a race report via email:

“Yesterday’s race was truly special for my family and I. The race was taken out hard by the eventual fourth and fifth place finishers, but my heart was beating out of my chest with adrenaline running through the Battery Tunnel. I was able to settle into a rhythm and on the shoulders of both guys for the first two miles until we exited the tunnel. When you exit the tunnel, you are greeted by hundreds of people, music, and 343 FDNY firefighters who are each holding a banner with a photo and name of every FDNY member who died on 9/11 so naturally I took off and let me adrenaline get the best of me. However, nobody followed and I ran the last 1.3 miles guided along by my Uncle Tom’s spirit and strength. As usual, Marty was there at the first major turn of the race, cheering me on and pointing me in the right direction. While they call the race a 5k, the distance is really about 3.35 so I’m pretty pumped with 17:08 considering I’m training for the NYC Marathon.’’

Thanks, Kyle. His uncle Tom was one of the 343 FDNY heroes on 9/11, so obviously there was and is a lot of emotion there. As you can see, Kyle honored his uncle with his race shirt.

Kyle referred to Most Loyal Alum Marty McGowan, who was with his son Matt directing the runners at the corner of West and Liberty streets. “You know that I have a big mouth and a loud voice, so this was an easy assignment for me to do,’’ Marty wrote in an email. “We were able to see all the athletes come up West Street and then direct them to turn at Liberty toward the Hudson to go around Battery Park City. Wonderful, emotional day!”