A firefighter finishes the last flight up during a competition Sunday in the Columbia Center tower in Seattle. More than 1,000 firefighters from throughout the U.S., as well as Canada and New Zealand, raced 788 vertical feet on 1,311 stairs up 69 floors in the 17th annual stairclimb at the tower, in a benefit for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The event is believed by organizers to be the world's largest firefighter stairclimbing event. The same route will be open to the public in two week when the annual Big Climb takes place on March 16. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

My nephew Garrett is running up 60 flights of stairs with full fire fighting gear today (Sunday) for cancer donations today. Cancer "run" is in Seattle. I am very proud of him. He is 20 and is the fire house grunt in Spokane, training to be a fire fighter and a paramedic. Go Garrett!/Cheri Howell

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