Going Vertical for Cystic Fibrosis Race report and RESULTS!

The Corning Tower.

So my friends and I conqured the 42 flights, 809 steps of the Corning Towers on Thursday.

The event was to raise money for The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (http://www.cff.org/) I think the Albany, NY chapter ended up raising about $36,000 for it!

Let me just start off by saying that this was one of the hardest things I had to do in my life,(besides giving birth without any drugs. Obviously, that was more painful) I went into the race thinking, "It's just stairs. You climb them every day, Jackie.." and that was the state of mine I was in until the starting line.

             Before I go any further, I'll post some pictures pre-race! We were having so much fun!

This is my friend, Stacy and I with the Subway guy.

They were sponsers and had subs for before and after the race.

Ian and I putting on our race bibs.

Stacy getting ready!

Showing off our awesome shirts that came in our goodie bag

Phil, Billy, and Brit

Jolene.Me.Ian.Stace

Jo and I showing off our shirts

And my Dad climbed, too! He rocks!

These feet will carry us a LONG way! :)

Our whole group with sub man

Hi Familes of the Few!

Ian and I. I swore I would beat him up those stairs!

Right after they called us to line up! NERVOUS

So, it was "go time" We had to ride up the escalators to get to the stairs.. Jolene and I registered at the same time so we stood one in front of the other. Luckily, I was to go before everyone in my group and I braved those stairs, camera in hand so I could catch everyone finishing.

Once we got to the top, everyone was asked to line up next to the windows single file. Thank  God I'm not afraid of heights,(as this is the 2nd highest building in NY state since the Twin Towers fell) because we were pretty darn high!

I was real close to the front of the line and could watch the first few people take off. It was so intimidating! They'd say, "GO!" then the next person would have to wait 5 seconds and then they'd say, "GO!" so there was 5 seconds between people. I remember waiting behind the guy in front of me and being so nervous.

When it was my turn, I lined up and waited for the, "GO!" and when it happened, I just booked it. Which was probably a stupid idea because I tired quickly. I think my main stratedgy was to take it slow in steady but when you're at the start line, the adrenaline is just pumping and you don't have a choice but to book it. This happens to me in every race so I should be used to it.

I made it to flight 9 before I thought I was going to collapse. I ran 9 flights at my fastest speed and then walked. I walked. I don't know why I thought I would be able to run the whole thing but, I did. I thought that all the way until I hit FLOOR 9. It was so very hard to breathe. I mean, so hard that I had to remember how to all over again. "In through the nose, out through the mouth, Jackie"

The whole time I ran, I passed about 7 people. And was passed by at least 2. This one chick that was behind Jolene just flew by me! I managed a, "great job!" as she was a blur in front of me. She turned around and yelled," you too! keep it up" and thats when I found more motivation.

My mindset was this: Use the walks as your "rest" and when you feel up for a run, go for it. So after a few floors of "resting," I tried running again. I took two stairs at a time and literally pulled myself up every other stair by the railing. I continued this until we got to one platform where I guess the stairs shifted and I had to run from one set of stairs, down a hall way, to another. That's when I almost passed out. I could feel it coming, I closed my eyes and my knees buckled... but I couldn't let myself fall flat on my face.. I couldn't.. I stumbled a little and slowed down a bit so I wouldn't pass out.. and up the next set of stairs I went. This was the half way point I think..

I remember thinking, "this is ONLY the half way point. HALF WAY! I'm not going to make it." But I kept pushing. I was determind to get up these stairs.

The rest of the climb was uneventful. I made it to the top where a camera man was waiting to snap my picture. If you have read any of my other race reports, you know that I'm awful at having my picture taken at the finish line. I even made Aaron take a "re-do" picture of one of my finishes back in September because the orginal one was horrible. So when I saw the photographer, I managed a smile. And it was posted to the website yesterday and looks like crap! (of course I look like I have a double chin.. why would I ever get a decent finish photo?! hah)

So I crossed the finish line 8 minutes and 38 seconds later. Those 8 minutes felt like a life time to me. I felt like it was never going to end. And when I finished, I couldn't even breathe. I coudln't talk, and I could barely stand..but I forced myself to keep moving so I wouldnt cramp.

And then I waited:

Brit came first.

The Phil(he's behind the yellw shirt guy)

Followed by Billy

Ian

My dad

And the girls!

Everyone did such an awesome job! I am so proud of all of us!

This is about 10 minutes after finishing.. still panting..

One last little group shot from the top:

Everyone else went down to get subs. By the time we got down there, they were all gone. Lol.

All in all, we all did an excellent job. Brit got 1st place over all for the women! That is HUGE. She won it last year, too so she's still the raining champ. Phil got 2nd in his age group, and Billy got 1st in his. I ended up getting 2nd in my age group (20-29) and was totally shocked! I was just happy to make it up the stairs and you're telling me I got 2nd place?! Hell yeah!

This is my Aunt Jenn. She was pretty much in charge of the whole event. She rocks!  

And here is everyone getting their medals:

Brit 1st place over all for women!

Billy (Brits brother) 1st place!

Phil 2nd place !

ME! 2nd place!

All of the Hoosick Falls (NY) people who won a medal. We swept them!

Me. Aunt Jenn. and Dad before we left.

I just want to thank each and every one of my friends for taking on this crazy challenge for such a great cause! I had an awesome time guys and hope to do it again next year!