Like many cities throughout the country this week, there have been a number of events in the Myrtle Beach area to commemorate the heroes of 9/11. A couple of the memorials that we saw on the local news were for stair climbs to honor the sacrifice of the first responders on that terrible day.
I had not done a stair climb before, but I was intrigued. These events (at least the ones I saw discussed for Myrtle Beach) encourage you to climb 110 flights of stairs, which represents the 110 floors of the World Trade Center. Some encourage you to wear gear as well.
I decided to do a memorial stair climb today at a local gym. They allowed members and non-members to come in this week during their operating hours to do the climb in one go or over several days.
Crabtree Memorial Gym, where I did the climb, is a large multi-purpose facility across from The Market Commons retail and residential center that we were at the other day. It is named for Clem Crabtree who served as head of Morale, Welfare, and Recreation at the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. In 1982, the Air Force named the gym in his honor.
The gym is currently owned and operated by the City of Myrtle Beach. It is open 7 days a week and offers sports, weightlifting, cardio equipment, and fitness classes. It is a two-story building. When I arrived, I was told where the stairwells were. I was to go up the one flight, walk down the hall, go down the 2nd stairwell, and repeat until I reached 110 or whatever other number I wanted to stop at.
I had no idea how long the climb would take or how my legs would feel, but I wanted to do the full 110, if possible. I started a little after 10 am. One other woman also did part of the climb while I was there, having done some of the climb on two other days.
As it turned out, I didn’t have any problems. This is sort of my forte — unskilled athletic activities (those where you don’t need a lot of coordination) for long periods of time. My legs felt fine. It was good. Of course, I didn’t have the heavy gear, there was no fire or smoke, and I could listen to the music while I walked and climbed. Still, it took me about an hour and a half, so by the end I felt like I’d done something.
I also had a nice view out of the windows as I walked between the stairwells.
All finishers got a sticker and a pin.
Peckish Travels 