Monday, January 13, 2014

a Week Without An Elevator

I've taken this off my doc on Scribd here.  Please feel free to re-send, re-post, re-tweet, re-whatever it takes to get the word out.  I just realized I hadn't put anything on my blog regarding this.  As most of you have probably figured out, I'm running the Empire State Building on the one year anniversary of my stem cell transplant.   To help promote the event and help me raise money for the cause I'm going to be a bit crazy and have a Week Without An Elevator (#WWAE).  My building has 29 floors and I'm saying I will go to any meeting and NOT take the elevator up.  Also, I'm trying to encourage anyone else in Manhattan, Chicago, Hong Kong, wherever we have tall buildings to join me and take a Week Without An Elevator.  Please pass this along and help me raise funds for The MMRF.  Donate here: www.bit.ly/pghlESBRU

cheers...Bill
(follow my training at #DailyStairs)

 A Week Without An Elevator
 January 27-31
In preparation for the Empire State Building Run Up on February 5th, we will have a week at work
where we don’t use the elevator to go up. Bill McHugh is running the race this
 year in celebration of
his one-year anniversary of a stem cell transplant to fight the incurable cancer Multiple Myeloma.
Bill has been tracking his training using his Nike+ iPhone app so that he can get cheers from his
friends and keep himself motivated. And everyone can track his progress.
What if everyone in Manhattan used an app to track his or her steps that week? How many people
can we get counting their steps? How many times can we walk the Empire State Building in a single
week? How much money can we raise for The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation?
The Empire State Building Run Up is an iconic event pairing an exercise in endurance with one of the
world’s architectural treasures. But above all, this Event gives a lucky few the ability to raise money
to fight an incurable cancer, Multiple Myeloma. Multiple Myeloma is one of those diseases for which
there is no cure, but The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation is working to combat that
diagnosis; and their efforts are leading the way in cancer research.
The idea for a Week Without An Elevator (#WWAE) came from Bill McHugh when he was looking for
a way to celebrate his one-
year anniversary. At last year’s ESBRU, Bill was in hospital
, on day 4 after
his stem cell transplant. As he was thinking about how to celebrate this anniversary he realized
what better way to prove his health, his Complete Remission, than by running up the same building
King Kong climbed! Where this offers Bill a way to prove his health and raise money for The MMRF,
how do we raise awareness and money
for the event? That’s where WWAE comes in.

Our goal is to get as many people as possible to take the week and walk up the steps, GoVertical as
they call it, to raise awareness for this disease. Use whatever app or device you have to help us track
that success. We can create a community of people using their fitness apps to track their lack of
elevator use. Bill is going to do this that week at his office. There are 29 floors and Bill will only use
the elevator to go down. He expects to be late to a few meetings and expects to be quite out of breath
 which is better than being in the hospital any day of the week!
As mentioned above, the brainchild for a WWAE is Bill McHugh. I am Bill McHugh. I was diagnosed
in October of 2008 via a standard, annual
doctor’s visit 
 and the accompanying blood tests. In 2009 I
went through my four rounds of chemo and harvested my stem cells. In 2013 I had my stem cell
transplant and as of Fall 2013 I am in a complete remission and happy to be there! My efforts with
ESBRU are not just for me but for everyone else out there fighting this disease and specifically those
that can’t be as physical about it.

That is the story as it stands today. For more details about Bill and his efforts fighting this disease
please check his blog. To keep track of his efforts climbing a lot of stairs, follow him on twitter. For
details on ESBRU, check out The MMRF.
ESBRU
 Feb 5, 2013


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That is one awesome challenge! I wanted to send you an email but can't find the address on your page, please email me at mtrucillo(at)recallcenter(dot)com when you see this. Thanks!