Well I completed my first Fight for air climb today. And 1310 grueling stairs later I can say I finished, a full lap around the lower deck of the Greenville SC BI-LO center, in full bunker gear, SCBA, and breathing air. No record time for me, but with no training and having not run more than the stairs in our station since fire academy, I was proud of myself. Eight members from my department competed in the 2013 Fight for air climb (enough to earn us a bronze sponsorship and a department logo on the obligatory "i did it" shirt). A small feat but something to be proud of. The one thing i saw today though that was better than anything else was the obvious aura of brotherhood present. I cant recall exactly but roughly eight different fire departments were present, some with two people, some closer to ten. But the group of firefighters that showed up clearly were the ones who understood brotherhood. Im sure there were some real competition minded guys in the bunch, but if so they never showed it (although these were most likely the ones passing me on the stairs). Everyone there was one big family, there to have fun and raise money and awareness for lung disease. Getting to see brothers from other departments and joke about who will be carried into the winners circle to collect our winnings was the best part of the whole day. After dealing with a slight morale funk it was refreshing to be a cousin at a family reunion. No one had to know anybody, but we all knew what the other did on a day to day basis, The sacrifices they had made, and what they had given to make a difference in the world. And through that came rejuvenation. A word I absolutely did not think would be a descriptive word of the day turned out to be the most fitting.
So in closing, will i do it again next year? Currently my legs tell me no, but I will. And I will be in better shape and ready to conquer those stairs once again.
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