The race began underneath an American flag raised by a South Portland firetruck. Sophie Burchell / The Forecaster

On Saturday morning, 300 runners took off from Payson Park to begin the inaugural Tunnels to Towers 5K in Portland. The crowd consisted of civilians, off-duty servicemen and servicewomen, and firefighters, many of whom ran the Baxter Boulevard course in full firefighting gear.

Chebeague Island firefighter Ralph Munroe organized the event to raise money for the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit that provides mortgage-free smart homes to catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, as well as homes for families of those killed in the line of duty. The organization is projected to provide 1,200 homes in 2024 alone, according to its website.

The foundation was created in 2001 in remembrance of New York Fire Department firefighter Stephen Siller, who lost his life at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Munroe was inspired to organize this race after four years of running the Tunnels to Towers 5K in New York City. The NYC event draws more than 40,000 participants a year, according to the Tunnels to Towers website.

“It’s the 9/11 connection. Being a firefighter, you definitely can relate to the whole incident a little more,” Munroe said. “Just the desire to help people is a big driving force.”

He added, “I was sitting in the bar talking to a lot of the volunteers. I said, ‘You know, I’d really like to have one in Portland.’”

Over 80 volunteer-led fundraisers for the Tunnels to Towers Foundation take place across the country each year, according to the website. This is the first event hosted in Maine.

Munroe and his wife, Kim, have been organizing the Portland race since last fall. Logistics included finding event sponsors, renting portable toilets, coordinating race-day volunteers and spreading the word. Munroe said he contacted every fire station in Maine to alert them of the race, making over 250 phone calls.

“It’s been a learning curve, all the logistics,” he said. “It’s been a process.”

Portland Fire Chief Keith Gautreau, left, gave a speech and thanked Ralph Munroe, center, and Kim Munroe for their work. Sophie Burchell / The Forecaster

The events began in Payson Park with speeches from Munroe and Portland Fire Chief Keith Gautreau, followed by “American Idol” star and Cumberland native Julia Gagnon singing the national anthem.

The runners took off beneath a large American flag raised by a South Portland firetruck, taking the course’s first turn to the sound of bagpipes and drums from Portland’s Claddagh Mhor Pipe Band.

Firefighters Prent Marriner and Corie Pritchette of the Rockland Fire Department ran the Portland 5K in full firefighting gear, an experience they described as extremely hot and uncomfortable. They have run the Tunnels to Towers race in North Conway, New Hampshire, in gear for multiple years.

Marriner ran previous Tunnels to Towers races with a friend who was unable to make it to the race in Portland. This friend’s close friend lost his life in Afghanistan serving in the military, Marriner said.

“The Tunnel to Towers Foundation actually paid off his widow’s home,” Marriner said.

Portland Mayor Mark Dion attended the 5K. His father was a career firefighter, and Dion has a soft spot for the fire service, he said.

“As mayor, I’m here to support the Fire Department,” Dion said. “It’s a demonstration that public service is selfless, but we don’t forget our own and we don’t forget the families that are touched by the losses that we experience in public safety.”

Portland locals David and Patti Fullen and their daughter, Meagan Leach, walked the race together. Their son was in the fourth grade during 9/11, which later inspired him to join the U.S. Army, Patti Fullen said.

“We’re not road racers. We’re going to walk the course. It’s such a good organization; it feels good to kind of help out,” David Fullen said.

In 2022, the Tunnels to Towers Foundation launched a program dedicated to eradicating veteran homelessness and have since helped house 5,000 veterans through building “Veteran Villages” and their case management network, according to its website. While no Tunnels to Towers veteran programs operate in Maine, some 5K participants shared their desire to house homeless veterans in Portland.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited to see it come up here to Portland, and I think Portland is deserving of it. I think there are a lot of people here that need some help,” Patti Fullen said.

“I’d love to see homes for homeless veterans come here,” she said.

Munroe also emphasized the need to house veterans in Portland.

“There’s plenty of homeless people here,” he said. “I’m not sure how many are (veterans). We should be helping take care of them. They are the ones that are letting us be able to sit here and live the way we do.”

The 5K event raised $21,419 for the Tunnels to Towers Foundation through sponsorships and registrations, according to the registration webpage, surpassing the fundraising goal of $10,000.

Tommy Mazza, manager of national running events for Tunnels to Towers, helped the Munroes maneuver race coordination remotely over the year and registered runners in-person on race day.

“(Munroe has) worked tirelessly. As a first-year event, this is incredibly successful,” Mazza said.

Munroe was enthusiastic about Portland’s Tunnels to Towers 5K going forward.

“This is the first annual. Yeah, we want to make it a yearly event. And hopefully it keeps getting bigger,” he said.