Running for first-responders
BYRAM. More than 250 people join 403 Reasons to Run group in the annual Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk in New York City.
Byram /
| 17 Jan 2025 | 10:25
Members of 403 Reasons to Run at the Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk on Sept. 29 in New York City. (Photos provided)
Participants in the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.
Members of the New York City Fire Department hold a picture of Stephen Siller and his engine number at the race.
More than 250 people took part in the annual Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk in New York City this fall as part of a group started by Byram residents.
“In 2014, we started with 11 people. In 2024, we had 257 people,” said Jacqueline Pellek, co-founder of the group called 403 Reasons to Run.
”Through word of mouth, people come out and it’s a great event. (We) encourage more people to bring someone else with them next year.”
Pellek was an elementary school teacher and coach for more than 31 years. She loves nature, hiking and going on runs with her husband.
She and a group of friends took part in a Tunnel to Towers (T2T) race, and she was inspired to start something similar for her hometown.
Every year, a 403 Reasons to Run group participates in the T2T 5K from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the site of the former World Trade Center.
The event was founded to commemorate New York City firefighter Stephen Siller’s run along that route carrying 60 pounds of equipment Sept. 11, 2001. He was killed along with 342 other firefighters in the terrorist attacks.
The 5K raises money for the T2T Foundation, which aids first-responders and service members who suffer catastrophic injuries.
403 Reasons to Run is named for the 403 first-responders who died in the 2001 terrorist attacks.
It is more than a local version of the national organization.
“We started by going to a Tunnel to Towers event, and we wanted to do that on a local level. It’s exciting and challenging, but it’s networking, and it’s doing good things for good people, so it’s pretty contagious,” Pellek said.
403 Reasons to Run hosts its own road races and events and helps struggling members of the local community. Its focus is first-responders.
“403 Reasons to Run is for police, fire and anyone who needs help. We raise money and we bring checks,” Pellek said. “We’re about serving the community; that’s our biggest priority.”
The group was started about 14 years ago, and Pellek hopes to continue it into the future.
“Me and my husband are the co-founders; I’m still the CEO and president and my husband is the financial adviser. We have a board, but we’re still rolling the way we started,” she said.
CORRECTION: Stephen Siller’s first name was incorrect in an earlier version of this article. We regret the error.