Posted: Feb.
14, 2009 3:05 p.m. About 650 upwardly mobile steppers raised more than $110,000 for the American Lung Association of Wisconsin this morning morning, in the local health charity’s first Climb Wisconsin at the U.S. Bank Building. Gasping and coughing at the top of the climb – 47 floors and 1,034 steps from the basement – the finishers exhibited the importance of healthy lungs. Many didn’t need a long climb to learn the lesson. They raised money and hiked to the top in memory of loved ones who died of lung disease, or are battling for their lives now. “This hit closer for me because it’s personal, and I think it’s personal for a lot of people,” said Robin Brahm, 52, of Milwaukee. Brahm’s mother, Joan, died of lung cancer just over a year ago, on Jan. 26, 2008.
“I miss her,” Brahm said. “I had tears a couple times on the way up.”