by NICOLE BODE
More than 15,000 people raced through the Battery Tunnel yesterday to remember rescue workers' ultimate sacrifice on 9/11 - and to recognize the plight of survivors battling chronic health problems. "As a wife, I'm constantly worried about his health," said EMT Dawna Mraz, 40, of Levittown, L.I., whose husband, Firefighter John Mraz of Engine 248, carried a flag for the fallen during the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K run. "It's on our minds," added Dawna Mraz, who also worked in The Pit and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a form of chronic fatigue, in 2004. The annual charity race retraces the last steps of Siller, a Squad 1 firefighter who was off duty when he ditched his car in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and hauled 60 pounds of gear through the tunnel into Manhattan. He was last seen at West and Liberty Sts. The run route started at the Gowanus approach to the tunnel in Brooklyn and ended at West and Vesey Sts. in Manhattan. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, on hand to congratulate the racers, praised the Siller family for helping remember those lost on 9/11. "Even though this happened five years ago, people haven't forgotten," Giuliani told the tens of thousands crowding Vesey St. across from the World Trade Center site. "In fact, they remember even more now." The race raised more than $375,000 for the Siller family's Let Us Do Good Children's Foundation, which donates to the firefighters' burn center and other causes. Firefighter Paul Salisbury ran the entire route in full firefighting gear in Siller's honor. "Stephen Siller was a friend of mine; I just wanted to turn out for him," said Salisbury, of Ladder 78 on Staten Island. Capt. Pat Ginty of Ladder 175 in Brooklyn was grateful he could finish 5 kilometers when some of his fellow Bravest can't even get out of bed because of respiratory problems believed linked to Ground Zero. "I just hope it doesn't happen to me," said Ginty, 39. "I try not to think about it."
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