Hundreds sprint up Nippert Stadium stairs to honor 9/11 victims

Hundreds are scaling the steps of the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium on Monday, Sept. 11, in memory of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. The third annual 9/11 Memorial Run event, organized by UC’s Veterans Programs & Services office, or VPS, and Army and Air Force ROTC detachments, remembers the more than 400 first responders and nearly 3,000 civilians who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. “The day of Sept. 11, 2001, should never be forgotten,” said Terence Harrison, VPS program manager and an Iraq War combat veteran. “We would like the region to know that our school will never take their sacrifice lightly.”  Participants are challenged to climb 2,071 steps in 56 minutes — symbolic of the 110 floors of each of the World Trade Center towers. Registration for the event, which is free to participate in and open to the public, began on-site at 5:30 a.m. The first 300 participants received a free commemorative T-shirt.   New to this year’s event: A walking path around Carson Field (the playing surface at Nippert Stadium) for those who wish to participate without running the stairs.  “We understand that not everyone has the ability to run up and down stairs for nearly an hour,” Harrison said. “We want to provide more options for those who wish to participate in this solemn event.”  Also new this year, parking in Calhoun Garage will be validated for the first 100 people to arrive at Nippert Stadium.  The event begins at 6:46 a.m. and continues through 7:42 a.m. While it takes place earlier than the actual events the day of the attacks, the event is timed in recognition of specific moments from that day. Breaks will be observed throughout in observance of when key events transpired, such as when the second airplane struck the South Tower, the crashes of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and Flight 77 into the Pentagon, and concluding with the moment when the FAA grounded all flights over the continental U.S.