NY Daily News – August 30, 2016
by Danny Lewis
Two extreme athletes raised $4,000 for the children of 9/11 victims on Sunday when they finished a 75-mile trek from Long Island to the Survivor’s Tree in lower Manhattan.
Long-distance runner Eva Casale and former Air Force veteran and handcyclist Michael Roesch battled the heat and humidity as they trekked from Manhasset to Manhattan — stopping to lay wreaths along the way at various 9/11 memorials.
“Just seeing all those that were lost and keeping that in our hearts was keeping us going,” Casale said.
She and Roesch did the “Footsteps for 15” ahead of the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in memory of all the victims but also to raise funds for Tuesday’s Children, a charity for kids who lost loved ones in the attacks.
While Casale ran the entire 75-mile route to Manhattan, Roesch rode in a hand-pedaled bicycle dedicated to a friend killed in Iraq by an improvised explosive device while defending a Marine base.
“I don’t look at being tired as a reason to stop,” Roesch said. “The first responders — firefighters and (the) police department and EMTs — were the first ones in the war against terrorism, and for me its important not to forget that,” the former Air Force soldier said.
The two athletes started their “Footsteps for 15” Saturday and stopped along the way to place wreaths at 9/11 memorials in Long island, Brooklyn and Staten Island before arriving in Manhattan.
No comments yet.