American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb in Philadelphia raises over $180,000 for lung health

The American Lung Association in Pennsylvania hosted its seventh annual Fight For Air Climb, on Saturday, March 23 at Three Logan Square, formerly the Bell Atlantic Tower, one of Philadelphia’s tallest skyscrapers. More than 750 participants climbed the 1,088 steps from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

The Fight for Air Climb is Philadelphia’s premier stair climb event, raising awareness for the 35 million Americans who suffer from asthma and other lung diseases. The event brought in more than $180,000 to aid in the American Lung Association’s fight for lung health.

The turnout for the First Responder Challenge was a great success, with over 100 first responder participants and 12 first responder teams, including Philadelphia police and fire departments and departments from New Jersey and neighboring Philadelphia regions. The First Responders Challenge is a special race for First Responder teams, with an award given to the team with the fastest cumulative time.

Altogether there were 766 registered climbers and over 80 volunteers at the event. Marilyn Russell from 95.7 BEN FM and Andre Gardner from 102.9 MGK did a fabulous job welcoming everyone, sharing their own connections to lung disease, presenting speakers and getting the participants ready to climb.

“Thank you for making the 2013 Philadelphia Fight for Air Stair Climb a huge success. It was a wonderful event from beginning to end,” said Deb Brown, president and CEO of the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic. “It was exciting to watch all the climbers head to the stairs and work their way to the top. Congratulations for accepting the challenge and conquering the stairs.”

The association thanked contributors by presenting awards to individuals and teams at the post-event celebration at Tir Na Nog Irish Bar & Grill.

For more information, contact Sherri Fiorentino at 610-941-9595 or at sfiorentino@lunginfo.org, or visit www.lunginfo.org/phillyclimb