By Jim Newell
Review Editor
Clad in full gear and helmets, carrying an extra 30-40 pounds, the weight becoming ever-more apparent with each step, legs aching, winded from the weight and exertion, seven of Orion’s finest took to the stairs in a grueling 71 story climb for the American Lung Association (ALA).
Orion Township firefighters Derek Welch, Joe Calahan, Scott Lark, Jenny Mains, Bob Hudak, Tom King and Chris Hagan participated in the Fight For Air Climb – American Lung Association Stairclimbs at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center went up 71 stories on Feb. 26, the relief palpable as they reached the top.
The seven firefighters pushed themselves through the climb to help raise funds and awareness for the ALA and its programs.
“You’re forcing your body to go through a pretty grueling process,” said Hagan, this year’s team captain. “We’ve had marathon runners on the fire department who have done it and they train like it was a marathon…and when they did it, they said it was ten times harder than training for a marathon.
“It’s 100 percent legs. Quads and calves are the ones that start to burn the most, and normally, right around the third floor you feel it. Yeah, the third floor it starts to burn, and then you realize you have 68 more left to go,” Hagan said.
Hagan finished the climb in 18 minutes, two minutes faster than last year.
Tom King finished in under 16 minutes, which put him in an elite category, Hagan said.
Derek Welch, just over 16 minutes, then Bob Hudak, then Hagan, then Scott Lark right behind Hagan. The two others, Jenny Mains and Joe Calahan finished later in the climb.
The Fight for Air Climb is open to anyone and takes place in late February or early March.
Runners, walkers, families and First Responders all participate. There is a 71-floor climb and a 40-floor climb for beginners and families who don’t want to climb all 71 flights.
To learn more about the Fight for Air Climb, visit www.lung.org/get-involved/event.
The Orion Township firefighters raised more $2,200 for the event, which tallied more than $420,000 this year from all Detroit-area donations for the American Lung Association, according to the Fight for Air Climb website.
“This year we were able to drum up a lot of excitement about it. We were able to partner with Hollywood Market and do a fill the boot campaign, which yielded a lot of donations. It looks like we’re going to be able to do that again, hopefully. Hollywood Market has always been extremely supportive of the fire department,” Hagan said.
The firefighters also collected donations from family, friends and co-workers.
“I think next year we might even be able to double our team. The goal for that is, in my mind, if we’re going to double the team, I want to double the fundraising,” Hagan said, adding that he would “love to see $7,000 – $10,000 raised for 2018. That would be my ultimate goal.”
And the firefighters know the climb can be a daunting task, right from the moment they approach the Renaissance center.
“The Renaissance Center in Detroit can look like a behemoth from street level,” Hagan said.
Hagan said he made the climb for a few reasons: to see if he could do it “as a personal challenge to myself”; and to raise funds for the American Lung Association.
The third reason: “This is the closest thing that we will ever be able to experience what it was like for the firefighters on 9/11. And that is really what I relate it to. You had guys on 9/11 who went from the truck with all their gear, the same gear that we’re carrying, but they had extra – they had extinguishers and hoses and axes and tools. And because the cable snapped in the elevators they had to take the stairwell all the way to the top, just below where the planes hit, to rescue victims.
“This is the closest thing that we could experience to that kind if physicality. And when you hit 71 (floors), your heart is at max rate, your muscles are burning. When you exit that stairwell the staff from the American Lung Association just bombard you with taking your gear off, shoving ice packs on your neck, getting bananas to replenish your potassium.
The Detroit event is one of the larger ALA fundraisers, Hagan said.
“It’s just a very unique event, it’s not like a normal 5K…but it’s unique to our profession. It’s very humbling to be around that many people, because it draws thousands of people every year. This year we sold out for firefighters at 350.”
The other participants, dressed in normal athletic gear, climb the stairs throughout the morning and at the end of the event the firefighters are led through the Renaissance Center to begin their climb.
“Finishing was “a huge sense of relief: one it’s done, and two, when you exit the stairwell you have this picturesque view of Detroit,” Hagan said. “You exit the stairwell and you’re looking over the river and it’s just a really extraordinary sight when you’re that high up.”
Hagan prepared for the climb by changing his workout routine, stepping up training with weights and more time on the Stairmaster and running.
He also added additional inspiration by changing up what he listened to during the climb. The first year, he listened to music to keep himself going; year two was stand-up comedy. This year, he listened to an Arnold Schwarzenegger motivational speech.
But Hagan and the other firefighters always remember that the climb is a climb for air – to raise awareness and funds for lung ailments and treatments.
“It goes to an area of health that is often overlooked, but that we see all the time on the fire department,” Hagan said. “The ALA helps with everything from phlegm, the flu, all the way up to lung cancer and everything in-between. What we see most often here is COPD – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
“It can be genetic, it can be from regular health degeneration and a lot of times its from smoking. And we see COPD patients all the time. We see the terror they go through not being able to breathe and not being able to.
“So, it’s a constant reminder for us to keep on a healthy track and raise awareness for what smoking can cause and the importance of keeping healthy lungs for the duration of your life,” Hagan said.