Every year the American Cancer Society holds their major local fundraiser, the Climb for Cancer, a 7 mile walk up Snowbowl Road. This paved road is the route to the Snowbowl Ski Area and travels through ponderosa, fir, and some spectacular aspen groves. It is held each August; this year it was August 18, making it my first retirement event.
I've participated in this event several times. It's always a lot of fun, but very emotional. The walk is long and climbs continuously, but there are so many people climbing for themselves and their loved ones, both living and passed, that we get to the top before we know it. This year I chose to be part of a DPS team honoring Sergeant Ken Hawkins "Hawk", who passed in May of 2011 of leukemia. We wore team t-shirts designed and printed by our dispatcher Shannon Chacon, who does many special projects for us in her Dad's print shop.
Team Hawk was made up of the Sergeant that took Hawk's place; most of his squad and some of their spouses; and dispatchers and their friends from both Flagstaff and Phoenix. We started out together, but as we proceeded, walked at out own pace.
Shannon Clifford and I counted this event as training for our upcoming half-marathon, and walked together. Here we are almost at the top.
This event is well supported. The finish line is a blast, with this big arch, Star Wars characters and cheerleaders to greet us.
One of the local restaurants provided chicken cesear salads, rolls, and fruit for all finishers. There's always live music and massage available, too. They bus us back down to our vehicles, so we get to rest and even snooze a bit, if we need to (that would be me!).
I enjoyed this Climb, and found it a great first-day-retired event.
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