WE DID THE BIG CLIMB!

We soooo look like superheroes here. And really...we are. Think about it:

• 69 flights of stairs (at 19 steps each)
• 1,311 individual steps (plus the landings)
• 788 vertical feet
• $2,803 raised BY US [so far]

There's still time to donate ~ April 10 is the cutoff for us to raise funds. So do The Surge a favor click on over to http://www.llswa.org/site/TRC/Events/BigClimb?pg=tprogress&fr_id=1040 and throw down a few dollars. Seriously! Every penny counts. (Seventy-five cents of every dollar goes directly to RESEARCH, and it may suprise you to know that the research that LLS does on blood-borne cancers actually helps find avenues to cures for tumor-centered cancers [which are harder to study] -- so what the LLS is doing is really the center of it all.) We'd appreciate your help.

The Columbia Center is the tallest building in Seattle.

The view from the top is pretty impressive. Did you know that during business hours you can go to the observation deck for $5? Yeah. Look DOWN on the Space Needle. (take visitors here instead! It's cheaper and you can see farther!)

These scenic views were taken by our very own Nabela Koob, who surreptitiously snuck her camera along for her heart-pounding stairwell climb. WAY TO GO, Nabela...way to take some shots for the team!

Check out that picture above: the Smith Tower (lower left) used to be the tallest building in the city...until the Columbia Center came along and dwarfed it.

Our waterfront is pretty spectacular. Especially when you can see all the way to the Olympic Mountains. Mind you, on the day we did the Big Climb, we were lucky to see ANYTHING at ALL. The hundreds of sweaty bodies circulating the observation deck were doing a pretty good job of fogging the windows from the inside. Priceless.

Here we're enjoying the comforts of the escalator on the way down AFTER the climb...waters in hand, and smiles on faces. Well, everybody's smiling except Monique - who's folding her hands together in a way that indicates low blood sugar is imminent! ((but never fear, Monique: there were plenty of options - Panera bagels, yogurts, free energy bars...eat your heart out))

A number of our team opted to join the National Marrow Donor Program, which normally costs $100 to join (can you believe it!?) - so perhaps someday one of us will get the chance to literally help somebody save their life. More details at http://www.marrow.org/

How we finished....?

Well our fastest racer clocked in at twelve minutes and our oldest racer did it in 13:45....though she swears that if that fat dude in front of her would have MOVED HIS FAT ARSE when she asked him to let her pass (but his Maslow's needs were a lot more dire than hers, his pudgy feet wedged against each wall as he strove to remain upright & in motion, his sweaty paws grasping the hand rails on both sides of the stairwell for support as he dragged himself upward...he was like a big hairy X of a man filling the entire stairwell void....) -- she would have been able to finish closer to 13min flat... But since she was assuming some sort of victory-shot photo opportunity was awaiting her as she emerged from the stairwell, and since she had no way to pass the fat guy [aside from scaling his rotund, groaning mass from behind, which seemed HIGHLY unappealing] she just decided to let him finish first so she wouldn't have to have him in her "finishing photo."

Guess what: there WAS no "finishing photo."

She's not competitive at all.

OR egoistic.

No.

BUT LET'S MOVE ON TO THE ACTUAL FINISH TIMES:

(wanna see the numbers? then you must click on this image to enlarge it....we didn't want to brag TOO blatantly here).

You'll see here that a few of our team members' names aren't listed. Kerry, for example, who underestimated the clusterfark that would be happening in the parking garage just before our race time. And then there was Andy, who unknowingly signed up as a "climber" rather than a "racer" (& therefore didn't get a timing chip). And so forth.

Not bad, Surge! In fact...awesome!

Even our recently hospitalized team member did fantastic (considering the state of her lungs!) And those of you who were hung over....well, you make us proud too. In that 'extra-perky' way that hungover stair climbers make us proud. Such inspiration you provide! Heh! We RULE!

The Big Climb "Surge"

Here's one last shot of our fantastic team! Left to right, top to bottom:

• Bri "Babbilicious" Babb
• Jess "I'll Never Get Pnemonia Again" Whitsitt
• Nabela "Thank God She Brought Her Camera" Koob
• Kerry "The Timless Racer" Ward
• Brittany "Why Move Back to Kansas When Things Are So Awesome HERE" Kreimendahl
• Monique "It's OK to Call Me 'Mo'" LaFollette
• Emily "Self-Proclaimed Lagging Lungs" Glenn
• Ivy "I'm Playing A Soccer Tournament After This Race, Ain't No Big Thang" Bjornson
• Kristina "Let's Do This Again" Armenakis
• Sarah "Holy Crap She's Fast" Brooks
• Not Pictured: Sean "The Sprintmaster" Machak
• Not Pictured: Andy "Two-At-A-Time" Castle
• (...the dudes on our team decided to take our team photo for us, rather than be in our photo. But we love you, fellas. We do.)

People are talking: The Surge has made its mark! Doing something good for the community AND promoting awesome soccer values....pretty cool. Several women approached us, asking how they could join our team.

Word. See you at the game.