Can I endure more than the 9/11 first responders?

We owe it to ourselves as Americans to improve.

September 11, 2001 is a day that will forever live in infamy. On that clear, sunny morning, hijackers crashed planes into two ever-present beacons of the New York City skyline: the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Each year since, on September 11, we remember the lives lost in that terrible and tragic attack. Moments of silence are held all around the USA. In some places, we commemorate the events of September 11 by running marathons or climbing stairs with symbolic markers representing the journey of first responders at the site of the crashes. We hold our loved ones close. We remember.

But on September 12, our indomitable American spirit swells, and we think… couldn’t we maybe do a little bit better?

I woke early in the morning on the 12th. I’d been dreaming of the heroism of America’s first responders. And they were, of course, heroes: climbing over two thousand stairs to save as many lives as possible, some losing their own lives in the process. But if 2,000 stairs was heroic, what about 4,000? Hell, 10,000?

I knew if I wanted to be a bigger hero than the 9/11 first responders, I would need to start from a base of cold hard logic. I had to climb more and climb better. But climbing a staircase for hours is boring. What about an outdoor hike? The idea was appealing, but to beat 2,000 stairs, I would need far more than 2,000 steps in my step counter. I would need to go vertical.

This hiking trail in Red Rock Canyon is way harder than climbing the 9/11 buildings: first of all, it’s rated “hard” on hiking sites. Second, the elevation gain is nearly 2,000 feet - significantly more than the world trade centers, which were 1,400 on a good day and only 1,730 even WITH the antenna (which nobody climbed, I’m pretty sure).

Like the 9/11 hijackers, my plan was already well in motion at first light. By 8:46AM, the time Flight 11 hit the north tower, I had reached 12,000 steps (nearly six World Trade Centers worth). But I wasn’t done. By noon, I had summited Turtlehead Peak and reached what I think any reasonable person would agree is the requisite number of steps to honor the lives lost on that fateful day.

Now it was time to take the next step: the step those first responders couldn’t, because the towers had collapsed by then and everyone inside had died.

I climbed back down, legs unsteady, lungs burning (maybe a bad choice of words, idk), pushing through with only that quintessential American drive, a pure force of will that hasn’t been seen since certainly long before 2001. And I did what no first responder was capable or willing to do: I made it to the ground.

It’s September 12, 2024. We have a new thing to remember now. 30,000 steps is crazy. That’s an order of magnitude more than even both twin towers added together. Let’s forget about the bad stuff, just a little. Let’s pat ourselves on the back for what we’ve built since 9/11: a society that produces real heroes. Let’s celebrate American exceptionalism.

To all first responders: thank you for your service, and you’re welcome for mine.

God bless America.