The 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks is coming up, and throughout the country there will be memorials honoring the dead, but Sacramento firefighters ask that locals take the opportunity to come out and run a 5K race for a good cause. Through a partnership between various Sacramento area Fire Departments, the Sacramento Police Department, the Sheriff’s Department and more than 2,000 local volunteers, a 5K run/walk has been organized as an addition to their third annual 9/11 Memorial Climb, in which 343 firefighters – the number of New York firefighters killed on 9/11 – climb the Renaissance Tower in downtown Sacramento to honor fallen firefighters. “It’s very personal for the f

Three hundred and forty three Sacramento area firefighters climbed 110 flights of stairs early Saturday morning in honor of the 343 firefighters who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. The second annual Sacramento 9/11 Memorial Climb was held at the 28-story Renaissance Tower on 8th and K. Fire departments representing cities including Sacramento, Davis, El Cerrito, Placerville and Vacaville participated. Climbers made four ascents: three from the basement to the 26th floor, and a final ascent from the basement to the roof, bringing the total number of floors climbed to 110, the same number of floors in each of the towers of the World Trade Center

Back in 1989 twenty years ago, Sacramento completed a landmark structure that engulfed many of the nondescript low-rises strung around downtown and became the first high-rise to reach past the 20th floor becoming the cities tallest. Many locals like to refer to the building as “Darth Vader” because of its menacing shape and dark color. This tinted-glass high-rise was originally proposed at 25 floors but was amended to be 28 floors, which put the tower 160 feet above the Capitol dome. With much applause and hope, city leaders at the time expected the Renaissance Tower to represent a rebirth of downtown and K Street. At 372ft tall, this was the cities tallest building constructed during the