Help Me Raise Money for the Big Climb
Posted by Rebecca in Races, Running on Mar 2nd, 2009 | 9 commentsMy coworker Mike put together a team to do Seattle’s annual Big Climb event (this year it’s on March 22), and I am one of his easily winded participants (go Team Flabalanche!). What is the Big Climb? Well, every year the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society organizes a race to raise money for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma research. The race consists of climbing 69 flights of stairs up the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle.
Yes, this is the little kid from Jerry Maguire. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have leukemia or lymphoma, but he is pretty spazzy looking so just imagine that he has Hodgkin's and be overcome with a sudden urge to help out the kid who talks about 8-lb heads.
That’s right, your favorite mediocre athlete is going to try and run up 69 flights of stairs. Me, aka the person incapable of running along a flat sidewalk without tripping. (This actually happened to me–I was running along 19th and looked down to skip a song on my iPod at the exact moment I came across a raised sidewalk groove. Before I knew it, I was flying forward and skidding my knee and hands on the hot, gritty concrete. I immediately snapped up and looked around to see if anyone noticed my blunder, and sure enough, there was a group of people staring at me from across the street with their mouths agape, silently mouthing (“silently” because OK Go was still blaring in my ears) “Are you OH-KAY?” I squeaked out a falsely cheerful and overly loud “YEAH! I’M FINE!” before scampering away as fast as I could, blood running down my leg.)
So yeah, jogging up a butt-ton of stairs can’t possibly lead to disaster for the clumsiest person in the Pacific Northwest…
Anyway, I pledged to try and raise $500, so I’d really appreciate some donations (think of it as a tip for serving up awesomely mediocre blog content). Check out my donation page at http://www.llswa.org/goto/rebeccakelley and donate some money if you like me, if you hate me but like science research, if you like me and hate leukemia, or if you hate me and want me to leave you alone. If you donate money, I promise to write an especially amusing and self-deprecating recap post about the Big Climb once I haul my ass out of bed and do the race on Sunday, March 22. I imagine the post will consist of about 30% race details and 70% post-race brunch recap.
Please donate! I also have a team page (we’re actually not Team Flabalanche, though I wish that were our name) in case you’re feeling especially charitable and want to donate more moolah, but at the very least I’d really appreciate anything you can contribute.
9 Responses to “ “Help Me Raise Money for the Big Climb”
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Stumble this article! Help her raise money!
Just donated Rebecca 🙂 – keep doing good things!
Thanks Chris! If I were your kid I’d be super stoked to be born and hang out with two of the coolest people ever. 😀
It looks like you’re doing pretty good on donations. Be sure to avoid introducing your knees to any of the stairs though. 😉
I know I’m going to get a face full of stairwell. Running up stairs is like an accident waiting to happen. Oh well, at least I’m banging up my shins in the name of charity!
Also, hi, I have you beat. I’ve fallen walking UP a flight of stairs. No, nope, no heels on, actually my Dansko’s. The best part was I was holding a Iced Grande Soy Latte when it happened. That went flying and I landed in a puddle of ice/coffee, just in time for some adorable guy to come walking down the stairs. After realizing the mess laying below him was an actual person, he threw out an “Hey, you ok?” To which I managed to somewhat look up from my prone position and go with a huge smile, “Oh YEAH, totally fine!” All the while thinking, 1. Will I actually be able to get up? 2. That bruise is NOT going to be pretty. 3. I really hope I never run into this guy ever again…
Falling up the stairs is the worst–the ultimate in clumsiness. Those “walk-tripping down the sidewalk” stutter steps are pretty lame, too. You always make a big show of looking behind you and expecting some giant ridge sticking out as if to show random strangers that you’re not just a klutz.
A few years ago I was out on a hike with a friend and suddenly a light bulb went on in her head and she suddenly announced, “Wait, I just NOTICED! YOU TRIP ALL the time! But you keep GOING, so no one ever NOTICES.”
Here’s the thing, I trip so much I don’t even notice anymore! If I stopped everytime I tripped, I’d have to stay in bed every morning…
Having beat hodgkins, this was good to read. Thank you for this.