Big Climb 2010 Wrapup

Well we all had a fantastic time this year and are excited for Big Climb 2011!

We were successful in raising $3,310 to help end blood cancer! Thank you to all the wonderful donors who contributed their support to us and the team for their effort!

Day of the event report:

It turned out to be a lovely day without rain in the NW although the forecast called for it. That certainly helps in your motivation to savor the view when you reach the top and also at the start as you line up outside to enter the stairwell.

From past events I knew there would be crowds of people making it difficult to locate each other. Therefore I chose a meeting spot that I knew for certain would be there and brought a gold mylar balloon with yellow stars so everybody could see me in the mass of people. I had chosen to meet in front of the bone marrow typing booth and to our luck, it was the only booth on the second floor away from the crowd and the first thing you encountered from the street entrance! So we had an easy time meeting together as a team shortly before our start time.

We all anxiously donned our Gold's Gym shirts, bib numbers, timing chips for the racers, slapped a photo of Skip our team honoree on our backs, and it was already time to line up! Riding the escalators down we were all pumped up and we got some nice pictures (check out the picassa slide show).

Before we knew it, I started out our team by being the first to enter the stairwell. They started each of us about 5-15 seconds apart. All 3 trainers immediately passed me within the first 10 floors! LOL

We had 11 racers and 7 climbers. Some of us were battling illness but we all gave it our very best shot! All I can say is that I was incredibly relieved to reach the top floor and IMMEDIATELY scouted out a water bottle. ;-)

The view was magnificent! While I waited for the rest of the racers and climbers to finish, the group who had completed the climb sauntered down to the recovery room on the 40th floor for oranges, apples, bagels and more bottled water while still taking in the marvelous view and sun peaking through the clouds.

When the climbers and I met back up with the team in front of the bone marrow typing tables, several were filling out applications for bone marrow donor matches! :D Isn't that incredibly nice?

From there, we headed over to the Pyramid Alehouse for our after event celebration reservations. They were wonderful with accommodating our large group in a special room with a long buffet style table. The food was great as well as the company! We had a lot of fun and look forward to next year!

If you have interest in being on the team with us next year, drop me an email at bluediverbeck at yahoo dot com with the subject heading "big climb".

Make sure to check out our photos at
http://picasaweb.google.com/103366840774496528971/20100322BigClimb?feat=email#

P.S. - Congratulations to our top male racer David Leach of the Bothell Gold's Gym with a time of 12:03 and our top female Racer Redmond Gold's Gym trainer Merrie Veico with a time of 12:08! Great job to both of you! You rock!