By Janet Moore, Star Tribune
Last update: February 11, 2007 – 2:00 AM
Early Saturday morning, a group of Minneapolis and St. Paul firefighters and police officers gathered in the IDS Tower's Crystal Court and began to undress -- almost down to their skivvies. They were joined by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.
In gym shorts and T-shirts, the group then raced up 50 flights of stairs to the top of the downtown Minneapolis landmark -- 1,280 steps, to be exact.
A week or so of subzero temperatures may encourage unusual behavior, but these firefighters and police officers -- not to mention an additional 700 civilians who followed them up the dim and stuffy stairwell -- sweated and grunted for a good cause.
The 26th annual Climb for a Cure, presented by the Twin Cities law firm Briggs and Morgan and nine other corporate sponsors, is expected to raise about $125,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It takes the average person roughly 15 to 20 minutes to leisurely scale the building's 50 floors (assuming they don't collapse first). It took 40-year-old Minneapolis firefighter Dan Casper just 6 minutes and 18 seconds.
A competitive cyclist with a slender frame, Casper is accustomed to testing his body's limits through physical exercise.
His strategy Saturday morning involved pacing himself. "When done properly, it's like the mercury in a thermometer that rises steadily," he explained. "You don't just run up the stairs, it's more like a quick glide."
And, there's a practical side to his involvement: "It fits in with my work. As a firefighter, we have to go up and down stairs, so this is good practice."
Results from the first three men and first two women on each team were averaged to determine the winner of the contest, which was marked with some friendly competition between the departments from each city. Casper and his fellow firefighters from Minneapolis (including his wife, Linda Sone) stepped to their third consecutive victory with an average ascent time of 7 minutes, 58 seconds.
Mayor Rybak competed with the Minneapolis Police Department team, which finished second with an average time of 9 minutes, 38 seconds. "I'm used to four flights of steps at City Hall, not 50 floors," he said. "There's a big difference between the two."
Police officers from both cities wore T-shirts bearing the likeness of 4-year-old Mikayla Polski, a Lakeville girl who suffers from cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease that afflicts some 30,000 Americans. There is no cure.
Polski's father, Mike, a member of the St. Paul police force, huffed up the tower with his brethren.
"This is fabulous, it really means a lot that they're doing this and wearing the T-shirt," said Mikayla's mom, Donna, who wisely took the elevator to the top of the building. When asked about the hoopla, Mikayla shyly ducked her head into her mother's shoulder.
Shortly after the ascent by firefighters and police officers, members of the Roseville Fire Department followed suit -- in full gear that weighed 60 to 100 pounds, according to Andrew Pike, a member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's local board and a licensed police officer, who has cystic fibrosis.
"Their enthusiasm really means a lot to me," Pike said.
After reaching the 50th floor, the group posed for a few group photos, hydrated and ate on some snacks. Then they took the elevator back down.
Janet Moore • 612-673-7752 • jmmoore@startribune.com
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