CF Stairclimb 09!

What an awesome event! This was our second time competing as TEAM LUCY in the annual CF Stairclimb up the former WaMu Tower in Seattle! (Now Chase Center) We had a great turnout of 24 climbers - up 2 from last year's team! We had many family members that were return climbers, but I think the poor air quality in the stairwell scared a lot of people away. It's kind of amazing how the poor air (maybe poor ventilation or dust or some yucky bug in the air...) just takes all of your steam & leaves you with a heavy chest... It seems like those who ran the stairs at a faster pace had much more trouble with their breathing than those of us with the slow & steady approach.

Randy & his dad - silly boys with those wild Webster eyes!

The Bartholomae Family!

My good friend & coworker, Marci Bartholomae's husband, Kevin, ran the stairclimb & was one of the fastest guys on our team! I loved spending a bit of time with the Bartholomae's & couldn't have been more impressed with Kevin's stellar time! Kevin has become quite the avid runner, having just finished the NYC Marathon with a time of 2:51 which qualifies him for Boston in 2011! Thank you guys so much for your support!

My mom & her good buddy & coworker, Lori Monson! Dr. Monson is an anesthesiologist at the same hospital where my mom works as a first assist in surgery. These two both had a great time, together they're as silly as can be! It was so awesome to have Dr. Monson's family join us - Tom, Lori, Michaela & Logan all competed & did a fabulous job! Way to go Monson-Cox family!!

Here she is! The star of the show! Grandma Susan A was a stud!!! She had a stellar finishing time of 10 minutes & 23 seconds! I couldn't be more proud of my amazing mom! On the way to Seattle, my mom called & asked if I could bring a photo of Lucy -- mom wasn't feeling very up to competing & needed some inspiration. In her left hand, she's holding a framed photo I brought to energize her. Then it got even better -- while standing in the line approaching the start, a new friend of mine came up and gave me a hug. This special hug was from my good buddy Rachel Blake's close friend Jen Puzio Brookes - Jen has CF herself & I recently got to know her a bit at the CF Gala. I was quick to grab my mom, pull her over & introduce her to Jen... I said, "Mom, you wanted an inspiration... here's your inspiration! Jen is in her early 30's & she has CF herself - she just did the climb!" My mom had tears down her cheeks as she gave Jen a hug! It was quite a moment, thank you Jen for being such an inspiration! We really do think you're pretty amazing!!!

Me & Ian Jordan - owner of Product Apparel

Huge thanks again to my buddy (former coworker - Ian used to work as a RN at TG in the NICU but he's now up at Children's in Seattle in addition to being a DJ & owning a screenprinting business with his brother)! Ian did a fantastic job with the tshirts once again!!

Our incredible team!! Left to right, back to front: Tom, George, Jeriah, Kyle, Sarah, Kevin, Mark, Ray Sato, Richard, Vladi, Lori Monson, Randy, Kevin B, Dennis, Meghan Willham, Brian, Grandma Susan, Christy, Corey, Sherry, Michaela, Logan, Judy & Edwin!

We had some speedy little devils on our team! My brother Mark is on the far right - he's a very competitive distance runner who has networked quite well with other WA state runners. This was a huge help as we were able to get to know & have on our team a few incredible athletes that we otherwise wouldn't have known! From the left: Edwin, Jeriah, Kevin & Mark! These guys were absolutely incredible - Jeriah was our team's fastest runner & third overall with a finishing time of 6:14!! When I say incredible, I mean it! Last year, the person who won the climb (Zach, from Olympia) had a time of 7+ minutes - this year was full of so much more competition, the winner this year had a time of 5+ minutes! We gave these guys a 365 day heads up for next year to do all the training & scouting out they can do so we have the biggest, fastest team possible in 2010!!

Thank you so very much to everyone who participated, donated, supported & cheered on TEAM LUCY!! We love you all & truly feel that every step climbed makes us one step closer to a cure for Cystic Fibrosis! Lucy loves you all & so do we!!