Bisbee 1000 Stair Climb gets Fire and Ice twist
Organizers of the Bisbee 1000: The Great Stair Climb have added a cool twist for the event's 25th anniversary, one that's likely to draw firefighters from around the state to the quirky southern Arizona town.
The idea came to Cynthia Conroy when she walked out of her Bisbee office on Sept. 11 a couple of years ago and saw three firefighters from Sierra Vista in full gear preparing to run up a flight of 155 stairs that are part of the Great Stair Climb course.
Their plan was to run the stairs enough times to equal the number of stairs in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
"They said they come and do it every year and dedicate it to the firefighters lost on 9/11," she said.
That got Conroy thinking: Why not incorporate an event for firefighters into race day?
RELATED:Prescott Circle Trail 54-mile loop nearly complete
Conroy, president of the non-profit Bisbee Vogue that organizes the race, founded the stair climb in 1990. The roughly 5K route includes 1,033 concrete stairs spread over nine flights, all connected by winding paths and roads. (I'm doing it on Oct. 17 as part of Bob's Bucket List.)
A few years later the Iron Man Ice Competition was added. Participants carry a 10-pound block of ice up 155 stairs, along a path and down a steep hill. It was created to pay homage to Bisbee's early years as a mining town and give participants and spectators something to do while they waited for the stair-climb awards ceremony. It's named for the statue of a miner near the start/finish.
Most competitors tackle the 1/4-mile ice course right after finishing the Great Stair Climb. I'll have to give that some thought.
The Fire and Ice challenge is the newest twist. Firefighters will compete in the Iron Man Ice Competition while wearing full gear — at least 45 pounds including helmet, boots, gloves and coat.
Oh, and they have to carry that 10-pound block of ice.
"We think it's going to grow into a huge event," Conroy said. "It's a great spectator event because people can sit on the grass in front of the Cochise County Courthouse and see those stairs."
Bisbee firefighters are inviting departments from around the state to take part. Proceeds benefit the Bisbee Fire Department, which needs new gear.
The stairs at the center of all of this were built along old mule paths as a Works Progress Administration project during the Great Depression. One purpose of the original paths was ice delivery.
The steep stairways open up views of Bisbee that cannot be seen any other way.
"We don't have to build an obstacle course in Bisbee," Conroy noted. "Bisbee is an obstacle course."
For the Fire and Ice race, organizers will have one extra set of gear on hand, just in case someone who is not a firefighter wants to square off against the real ones.
RELATED:San Diego summer races: Running, biking and obstacle courses
"If they think they're as strong as a firefighter, we'll have a suit for them," Conroy said.
After all that climbing, the Bisbee 1000 Craft Beer Festival will be waiting.
Conroy said many participants have told her they can only enjoy the beer guilt free if they've done the stairs first.
"But a lot of people tell us they're just going for the beer, and to heck with the exercise," she said.
Details: Saturday, Oct. 17. 9 a.m. start for stair climb. $100. 11 a.m. start for Iron Man Ice Competition. $25. 2 p.m. beer festival. $25. Intersection of Tombstone Canyon and Quality Hill roads, Bisbee. 520-266-0401, Bisbee1000.org.
RELATED:AZ outdoors bucket list: Rides, races in beautiful places
Extremely crazy
Is running stairs in firefighter gear with a block of ice not extreme enough for you?
The people at Flagstaff Extreme Adventure Course and Fort Tuthill County Park and some race organizers with twisted minds have joined forces to create the Extreme Finisher Series.
All one must do is complete four endurance challenges at Fort Tuthill, just south of Flagstaff, in the coming months:
- Flagstaff Extreme Adventure Course. This can be done at any time, and there are several courses with 10-17 obstacles each. The most difficult is the black course, which requires the highest skill level and makes participants test the boundaries of their height tolerance.
- Flagstaff Extreme Big Pine Trail Runs, Saturday, June 13-14. Distances from 13K to 108K. The long race is only about 65 miles at above 7,000 feet. Simple.
- Extreme Terrain Mud Run, July 25. You'll also find this doozy on Bob's Bucket List. There are 5K and 10K courses; the long course includes 20 mud-caked obstacles. Fun!
- Bearjaw Groove Mountain Bike Race, Sept. 26. There are 6-hour and 12-hour options on a course that is 80 percent single-track trail and the rest on Forest Service roads.
Complete all four events, at any level of difficulty or distance, and get a medal, T-shirt and discounts into any of the events in 2016. That's nice.
Do all four at the most extreme difficulty and get a medal, T-shirt and free admission to all four of the challenges in 2016. That adds up to more than $350 worth of free racing.
Hey, good luck with that.
Details:flagstaffextreme.com/events.
Explore Arizona reporter Bob Young is a six-time Ironman finisher, marathoner, ultra-marathoner and stair-climber-in-training. Reach him at 602-444-8271 or bob.young@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobYoungTHI or join him at his next stop on Bob's Bucket List, the White Mountain Tour bicycle ride June 27-28.