Race Honors Sept. 11 Victims

The 9-11 Victory Run Sunday will honor those killed on Sept. 11, 2001, as well as soldiers who've given their lives in America’s wars against terrorism.

“It’s a way of celebrating the Americans who’ve served our country since 9-11, and a way to remember the victims of 9-11,” said Alfie Means, whose family organized the Chastain Park race for the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11. “We’re all affected by it.”

Means’ family keenly understands the grief felt by those who lost loved ones in the New York City terrorist attacks, and in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Alfie’s younger brother, Ryan, joined the Army after losing his best friend, Buckhead native Adam White, in the Sept. 11 attacks. After serving in Iraq, Ryan Means died of bile duct cancer. 

The hut at Chastain Park’s was named for Means last year, and his family conceived of as a way to honor not only him, but all of those lost in the war against terrorism.

The 5K race begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at the American Legion Hall at Chastain. Proceeds primarily benefit the American Legion Post, along with the . Alfie Means expects more than 200 participants in the race. See the accompanying entry form for more information. 

White, a and alumni, was an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the businesses devastated by the Sept. 11 attacks. Ryan Means, a Marist graduate who like White attended the University of Colorado, was also living in New York at the time, and spent three weeks looking for White after the attacks, posting his picture at hospitals and posting sites around Manhattan. He was never found.

In White's memory, Ryan Means decided to join the Army two years later at the age of 32, one year short of the cutoff age.

“He wanted to go chase terrorists down” said Alfie Means. Ryan Means received his green beret as a member of elite special forces and went to Iraq, where he contracted bile duct cancer. He died two years ago.

Now he’s honored with a plaque in front of the Ryan Means American Legion Hut, as White is remembered with a bench in his honor at Park.

On Sunday, runners engaged in the joy of living will celebrate them, and all of the others killed over the last 10 years.

“The race is really for all Americans,” Alfie Means said.