Firefighters Charlie Schmidt, left, and John Stewart, both of Vancouver, Wash., fire dept., pick up their gear and head out after resting following racing up 1,311 stairs in competition Sunday, March 2, 2008, in the Columbia Center tower in Seattle. More than 1,000 firefighters from throughout the U.S., as well as Canada and New Zealand, raced 788 vertical feet up 69 floors in the 17th annual stair climb at the tower, in a benefit for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)