GENESEO, Ill. — It's a tradition that takes place across the country. First responders and community members walk 110 flights of stairs, the same number of floors in the World Trade Center, to honor those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Geneseo Firefighters Association decided to hold its own stair climb.
"We're paying tribute to the ones we've lost in order to honor the ones that are serving us today," said Dustin Minnaert, one of the organizers. "I think it's one of the best ways to pay tribute to those guys, is to just put yourself in their shoes."
They climbed 28 times up the bleachers at Geneseo High School and back down 28 times, the equivalent of the 110 flights of stairs. Another option was to walk four laps around the track.
"It's just grueling," climber Karna Frerichs said. "It takes a lot of endurance and just thought process of what was going through their heads as they were trying to save people, and help people to the best of their abilities."
Frerichs grew up in a family of firefighters.
"I came out today because 9/11 kind of hit home for me," she said. "Seeing the devastation that happened on 9/11 was just heart wrenching and brings tears to my heart because I have family members that were firefighters."
Area firefighters and police officers climbed in their gear. Others carried sandbags, the American flag or their children.
"We're doing it in full gear, trying the best we can to remember, you know, how they did it and not take any shortcuts," said Hampton firefighter Jake Culver.
While walking, he told himself to keep pushing, motivated by the legacies of the fallen first responders.
"These guys, they didn't have any other option when they were in, you know, concrete staircases and close to 100 degrees in those buildings," Culver said. "It had to be the scariest experiences of their lives, and they kept going, so ... you can keep going."
Culver is only 19-years-old, not yet born when 9/11 happened. He's grown up listening to his parents tell stories about that day.
"The fact that they remember exactly where they were, what they were doing, that shows you how much of a, you know, even if they weren't doing anything special, it shows how much of a difference that made and how big of an impact it had on everybody," he said.
He's going to make the 9/11 stair climb a new tradition.
"Every year I can, every year I can," he said. "I'd like to make it out to the FDIC at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and do it there. 3,800 steps, but absolutely I'll do this as often as I can."
Minnaert said they plan to make the memorial stair climb an annual tradition in Geneseo. The climb was also a fundraiser for the Illinois Firefighters Association and its fund that donates money to the families of firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
A total of 415 first responders died on 9/11; 343 firefighters and 72 police officers.