Hustle Up The Hancock For Respiratory Health
CHICAGO (CBS) - If you're up for a workout, and you'd like to help people with respiratory issues, now is the time to think about hustling up the Hancock.
CBS 2 is a proud media sponsor of Hustle up the Hancock this year, and the entire Morning News anchor team is participating.
Still, climbing almost 100 flights of stairs is a daunting task. So CBS 2's Don Schwenneker decided to head to a 46-floor office building in the Loop and talk to a Hustle hero to find out why he thinks it's all worth it.
"Sometimes after lunch, if I haven't had a chance to walk outside, I'll get off the elevator at 21 or 28" and walk up the stairs, said Barry Levenstam.
Levenstam, the board chairman of the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, knows how to do walk up the stairs of the John Hancock Center like the best of them. His best time is just over 15 minutes.
Of course, Levenstam has been doing it for a while. But for him, the climb is personal.
"My daughter was at a birthday party, I believe, and she was young – somebody else's birthday party – and there was a hayride," Levenstam said, "and she came off that hayride and was having difficulty breathing."
After several his daughter Sarah was diagnosed with asthma. And it's money raised during the hustle that helps kids just like her.
"There is a very high incidence of asthma in Cook County, and in the inner city in particular, so we as an organization have been very active in helping teach them how to use medication and take care of themselves," Levenstam said.
Hustle up the Hancock is Feb. 27. General registration for the climb is full, but you can still register if you commit pledging $1,000. There are also spots for the half-climb.
To sign up, go to LungChicago.org.
