Son Of Fallen 9-11 Firefighter Going
For National Soapbox Derby Title
EagleTribune.com 7/23/09
Tyler Marino's age is still a single digit, but come Sunday, he'll have the opportunity to put his hometown on the map.
Tyler will compete in the national soapbox derby championship in Akron, Ohio. He's already there along with his mother, Katrina, and his sister Kristin, 11.
His dad, New York City firefighter Kenneth Marino, was among the more than 300 members of his profession who died Sept. 11, 2001, during the terrorist attack.
Without a doubt, Tyler's dad will be prominent in the thoughts of the family he left behind when he died in the attempt to rescue people from the burning, collapsing twin towers of the World Trade Center.
Tyler, 9, who will start fourth grade at Sacred Hearts School in a few weeks, earned the right to compete in Akron by winning the local race at Bradford Elementary School on May 30, beating 24 other contenders ages 8 to 13. On Sunday, he'll be up against 600 racers in that age group.
"I really want to win and have fun," Tyler said.
Asked what the secret is to winning a soapbox derby race — there are no motors; those little wooden cars run entirely on gravity — Tyler advised: "Keep your head down, keep your body still. Don't put your brakes on too early."
Brian D'Ambrosio of the Pentucket Kiwanis Club, which sponsored the race at Bradford Elementary School, said successful racers develop a knack for finding the quickest route down a hill.
"It all comes down to which kid figures the fastest way down," D'Ambrosio said.
Tyler and his rivals raced a few hundred feet down Montvale Street, with officials timing each run.
Some soapbox racers build their own cars. The Pentucket Kiwanis Club purchased kits and assembled the cars for Tyler and the other local racers.
All competing cars — with their drivers — must weigh the same, so race officials face quite a chore in adding weights to the different vehicles, D'Ambrosio explained.
"I don't know," Tyler said when asked about his chances of beating contenders from all over the United States. If he wins, he'll get "money and a giant trophy," he said.
Tyler's favorite sport is track. He enjoys winning races on foot as well as in a soapbox car. He also likes to draw and play video games.
He's not particularly fond of school, he admitted.
"I hope to serve in the Army or Marines," he said, when asked what he wants to do when he's a few years older.
"He wants to get the bad guys," explained his mother, who spoke at the City Hall ceremony honoring the 9/11 victims last Sept. 11. At that same ceremony, Tyler lowered the flag to half-staff.
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