Dozens of firefighters run 34.3 miles to Ground Zero to honor fallen FDNY heroes on 9/11 anniversary

Dozens of firefighters and their loved ones ran from Long Island to Ground Zero Wednesday to honor their 343 FDNY brothers lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

It took nearly nine hours for the dedicated group — carrying massive American flags and flanked by dozens more on bikes — to complete the grueling 34.3 mile-journey through three boroughs and a sliver of Long Island.

“We’re here, baby,” organizer and firefighter Etan Blatt said at the reflecting pools by the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. “We grunted it out, we pushed hard, we got it done. Everybody got it done — teamwork.

“Never forget,” Blatt added.

The run marked the fourth annual event by the 34.3 Foundation, a charity that benefits the firehouses and families of FDNY officers killed in the line of duty.

The dedicated group wearing matching red T-shirts started in Long Beach at 8:47 a.m. — exactly one minute after observing a moment of silence for the first plane strike into the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex.

The runners weaved through Rockaway and the entire length of Brooklyn before crossing the Manhattan Bridge and landing at the 9/11 Memorial to gather with hundreds of others for the annual ceremony.

They stopped several times at firehouses along the way — including for five moments of silence to honor major milestones in the national tragedy: for the Flight 175, 77 and 93 crashes and for the collapse of both the North and South Towers.

They even hauled a wooden American flag placard, which they bestowed onto Hook and Ladder Company 3 in Union Square — just four miles out from the finish line at One World Trade Center.

“The guys are doing great, we’re working as a team. The younger guys are pushing the younger guys for sure,” Blatt said as he chronicled the arduous, day-long journey on social media.

The now-annual run — 30% longer than a marathon — was born in 2021 when Blatt, a seasoned runner, came up with a plan to mark the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks, which killed 2,977 people.

Several other firefighters joined Blatt for the next two years, but the event boomed in its fourth iteration.

The yearly run has since turned into a charity that raises funds throughout the year for FDNY firehouses and families suffering line-of-duty deaths.