That’s right, I did it.
On February 25, 2007 the American Lung Association hosted the 10th Annual OfficeMax Hustle Up the Hancock. Chicago’s World Class Stair Climb is a 1,000-foot vertical climb up 1,632 stairs to the 94th floor of the John Hancock Center. They ‘sold out’ of the full climb so I did 52 floors of yummy goodness.
We got to the building at 7:15, and Ipstenit went up to the top floor for the *ahem* view. It’s been raining all day, ice rain, so there was no view, but she had her iPod. My ‘wave’ was set to leave at 8:30 AM, but we left at about 8:15, give or take, and got to the top around 8:31. I think I did it in just under 15 minutes, but official results aren’t posted until Tuesday.
If you’re checking out http://www.lungchicago.org, my bib number is 4326. I raised $795 dollars for this, and I think I’ll do it again.
So why did I do it?
Firstly, because too many friends and family members have died of cancer. Secondly, I’ve been loosing weight, and I wanted a major goal to keep exercising for. Third, this marks my 10th year in Chicago, I’m almost 30 years old, and I wanted to do something big. This was pretty damn big!
I was a little winded, but I could have kept going. The first 20 flights were rough (they started us at floor 42) but manageable. After the 30th floor, I got my second wind, and by the 52nd, I could have done another 20 easily. My training was spot on, and I was in good time. It actually wasn’t that hard. This is something anyone in decent shape can do, and should do.
Thank you, everyone who donated, supported, and otherwise cheered me on. If you still want to donate, check out http://hustle2007.kintera.org/ipstenu – There’s still time!
ETA: 12 min 18 seconds