American Lung Association Presents: 14th 'Fight For Air Climb'

They call it the 'Fight For Air Climb', and climbers from all over the state come to climb stairs at Leadership Square in downtown Oklahoma City.

“We will be coming, and we will be climbing stairs. So, we’ll be going up and down sixty-eight floors,” said Terri Bailey with The American Lung Association.

The local event is designed to bring awareness to lung disease. “Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer among all other cancers. It kills more people than the next three causes of cancer combined,” said Bailey.

Lung disease, however, is not limited to cancer. “Asthma is the leading cause of children missing school each year, and of course, we have the epidemic of vaping in school,” said Bailey.

The climb will take place on Saturday, March 9, and is inclusive of all skill levels, from those climbing to simply supporting the mission to the elite climbers. “So, what our elite climbers will do is, they will run the course, as many times as possible, within one hour,” said Felicia Stroud with the American Lung Association.

Some of these climbers will come from all over the nation to compete for the best time. “We have sixty-eight floors total, and I won’t be shocked if our elite winner can do it probably in the six-minute range,” said Stroud.

“One unique aspect of our event is that we have firefighters, that we firefighters and first responders from around the state that climb the event in full gear,” said Brittany Maune, with the American Lung Association.

Firemen and first responders are motivated by the purpose and the cheer of the crowd. “It’s really fun for the public to get to see them come out and do it, lots of kids, you know they are cheering them on and so it’s a really fun part to see,” said Maune.

There is still time to sign up and participate in the climb. The family fun event is on Saturday, March 9th starting at 7 a.m. “Kind of like a 5-K or a marathon type of feel but instead of walking or running, we’re climbing stairs,” said Bailey.

For more information about the climb and sign-up information visit www.climboklahomacity.org. News 9’s Mike Glover will serve as emcee for the day. There will be activities for the entire family.