Have you heard of the "Big Climb for Leukemia"? It is this amazing event that I take part in every March to help raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We run up 69 floors (1,311 stairs) in the Columbia Tower, all to raise money to help find a cure for Leukemia.
It is an amazing experience, so painful, but so gratifying to finish. This will be my 8th year competing. I decided 8 years ago after watching my husband run the famous "Firefighter's Big Climb for Leukemia" that I wanted to also give it a try. So not being a firefighter, I found out that they also offer a civilian climb 2 weeks after the Firefighter's climb and I signed up. And being the competitive person that I am, I loved it and continue to look forward to it every year.
This year this climb has become very personal to me, I found out 2 days ago that a good friend and fellow fireman that works with my husband was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He is in his late 40’s and this has really hit home for us and the fire service.
I am the Team Captain for a team that we put together a few years back, named “Rescue Me”. The idea behind our team was that we all had to be significant others to firefighters. This year we are running the climb in honor of our good friend. I like to try to get our team to raise as much money as we can to help find a cure so your donations will help to find a cure for this horrible caner.
While we will be gasping for air running all those stairs, the real challenge is to help fight blood cancers. All proceeds benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Please support me by going to my personal Big Climb page:
It's that easy! Thanks for supporting me in the fight against blood cancers!"
Thank you so much for your support, and be thinking of my team and me on Sunday March 22nd as we all conquer another 69 floors.
Coach Kristi Berg
Cycle University
