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!!
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