When: Saturday 9/13/2025, 06:00 – completion
Where: Nation Ford High School, Football Stadium
Why:
9/11 is a day nobody will ever forget. Nobody should ever forget. Many lives were lost and America as we knew it was forever changed after that day.
What:
In honor of the 24th anniversary of that fateful, horrible day, we will be doing a 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb.
Each of the NYC Twin Towers had 110 stories and 2,070 steps. The football stadium bleachers at Nation Ford High School (aka Honey Badger, Ring of Fire, and Varsity), there are 6 rows (the larger two-way rows) of steps, each row with 34 steps. Going up then down each of the 6 rows gets you 204 steps, which is one round. Repeat that 10 times, or 10 rounds, +1 more row, you have 2074 steps. We would run all 6 rows 10 rounds, then add one row to make it 66 rows total. Granted we’d be going up 66 times, down 66 times, but we’d get the total step count in. To keep things easy, we decided to do 11 total rounds.

After some encouraging words and lifting up some words in respect and honor of those lost, we set off. Some ran, some speed walked, others rucked. A few replicated the 60-70 lbs average load a fireman carries when prepped to fight. Coupons were added to the mix too. Work was done, excellent fellowship was shared, and the patches were well earned. Everyone did a GREAT job. It was quite a morning.

One thing – the stairs in twin towers, all 110 stories, would yield an elevation gain of 1,100 ft. Unfortunately, after 12 rounds or so, I only got 900 ft elevation gain. SO…..doing the math, next year we will be going for the elevation gain, which means we will have to do 15 rounds total of all those steps.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.
NASA

Nation Ford High School football field stadium
06:00 launch

THE THANG:
Inaugural The Fort 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb
9/11 is a day nobody will ever forget. Nobody should ever forget. Many lives were lost and America as we knew it was forever changed after that day. This will be in honor of the 24th anniversary of that fateful day.

Setup:
Each of the NYC Twin Towers had 110 stories and 2,070 steps. Looking at the football stadium bleachers at Nation Ford High School (aka Honey Badger, Ring of Fire, and Varsity), there are 6 rows (the larger two-way rows) of steps, each row with approx 34 steps. Going up then down each of the 6 rows gets you 204 steps. Repeat that 10 times +1 more row, you have 2074 steps. We would run all 6 rows 10 times or rounds, then add one row to make it 61 rows total. Granted we’d be going up 61 times, down 61 times, but we’d get the total step count in. To keep it easy, we would do 11 complete rounds of steps, or 66 rows total.

Some guys ran it, some guys walked it, some guys rucked it. A handful tried to replicate the 60-70lbs average load firemen carry when prepped and going in for a fight. Coupons were added to the mix as well. Work was done, great fellowship was had, and patches were well earned. A prayer or convocation was presented at the start to honor all those lost on that fateful day. Excellent job everyone!! Remember, we GET TO do things like this. #NeverForget

Thankful and blessed to lead this. It WILL be back next year!
SYITG,
NASA

AAR:
This was the first time doing this, and to be honest I did not perform a pre-run on this to see what those bleachers would give us as far as elevation. In the end, per Garmin, I did right at 902 ft elevation gain in 2.36 miles in about 1hr 15 min in 12.5 rounds of bleachers (some of that 2.36 miles was lateral, horizontal movement from stairs to stairs). I actually finished the 11 rounds in 1 hr, but went to help and motivate others. BUT – to achieve the 110 story height of the twin towers’ stair wells, you need 1,100 ft elevation gain. I was 200 ft short. With that, doing the math, one round of bleacher steps is 75 ft elevation gain. So in order to get 1,100 ft elevation gain, we would have to do 14.6 rounds of bleacher steps, so make it 15 to keep it easy. That is doable.