Bisbee Stairclimb 2008!

The third Saturday of each October is a special day...it's Bisbee Stairclimb Day! I had mentioned in earlier posts about training for the event. My co-worker Terri and I did a handful of practice runs to get prepared. Despite all the practice runs, it never gets any easier, you just recover faster.

Evan was a bit antsy in the beginning since it wasn't our normal routine to just hang around waiting. All along the way I had comments from people about how in the world I could do the steps with Evan on my back. It wasn't too hard when you train for it. :-) We think our time was about 1 hour and 30 minutes...which is pretty good considering our practice runs were about 1 hour 45 minutes. We decided to run the first downhill leg through Tombstone Canyon (until Terri reinjured her hamstring). After that, we just stuck with walking. Evan thought it was so funny bouncing up and down in the backpack as we were running. The people around us were laughing at his laughter.

Evan being antsy...saying..."Why aren't we walking already??!!"


Shocking! A picture of the boy sitting still!


This is my co-worker Terri (these pics are from her cell phone).


A view of the mass of humanity before the start


We were in the corral waiting to go...Evan was pointing out people he thought we could easily beat.



Stair #1 Super-easy!



Stair #2 Another easy one!



Stair #3 It's starting to get hard!


Stair #4 Aaargh...hating this!


Stair #5 The dreaded Maxwell Stairs! Made it to the top of High Street. How fitting of a name for a street in Bisbee! Evan was so worn out even he needed a drink of water.


Stair #6 The worst is over, but alas, more steps to climb!


Stair #7 Nice easy set of steps...I think Evan was sleeping by this time.


Stair #8 One more left after this set...


During our training sessions, Terri and I said we would get a picture of this street sign. Funny with the Obama sign behind us (sooooo Bisbee).


Stair #9 The last set! At the top of the stairs, these guys starting chanting "We're not worthy" when they saw us coming up that last set.

Training in Bisbee

In a previous post I think I mentioned how Evan and I are usually in Bisbee every weekend "training" for the annual Bisbee 1000 Stairclimb in October. Evan has been doing great in the backpack and manages to find a comfy position to sleep in during the walk! My co-worker Terri has been joining us and these are some pics she took with her camera phone.

A view of Castle Rock and the Bisbee "B":


Evan and I making it up the last set of stairs (Perley Street steps):


Evan waiting for the "magic door" to open on the van:


Is this kid too cool or what?!

The Bisbee 1000

Last Saturday, Evan and I (along with some co-workers) participated in the Bisbee 1000. What is it you ask? According to the website link:

"The Bisbee1000 event allows you to use any combination of walking, running and resting to traverse nine sets of steps and numerous back-roads at a mile-high altitude. While conquering over 1,000 steps you will be serenaded by musicians playing at strategic points along the route. Participants can compete aggressively for overall and age group prizes; enjoy a challenging fitness walk or family stroll, or any combination thereof."

So, I walked/climbed the entire route with Evan in the Baby Bjorn front carrier. We finished in around 1 hour 45 minutes. He was an absolute doll the entire morning. He stayed awake throughout the first 2/3 of the route, but zonked out on the last leg. Amazing he could fall asleep with all the bouncing around. Maybe next year we run it??!! Ummm, don't think so!

Our local newspaper website has a nice 5 minute video posted: www.svherald.com Look down the left side under "Multimedia".

My vids from the event aren't that great: