Campbell Climbs For A Cause(posted Oct 6) Pike Township Firefighter Jim Campbell still holds the world record for stair stepping despite being dogged by the unusual October heat wave during the Pike Township Fire Department Safety Festival Oct 6. After twenty three and half hours, Campbell called it quits. Campbell recognized he was in trouble within the first hour of climbing in the outdoors at Intech Park as the paved area was approaching 100 degrees. "It was bad news from the get go. I knew this would be ugly," he said. He noted that the asphalt paving going at the adjacent parking lot only compounded the problem. Last year, Campbell captured the world record in an indoor air conditioned environment. Campbell initially started stair stepping two years ago because he did not like the numbers the scales were recording about his body weight. Campbell told himself it was "ridiculous" to weigh 190 pounds especially when he was nearing fifty years old. The grueling heat reminded him of the first time he stair climbed. "I lasted 15 minutes and I puked," he said. Campbell said stair climbing became more than a workout, becoming a charity cause when he heard that a Seattle Firefighter set a record of 66,000 steps. Campbell quickly did the math and figure out that he could do that. Campbell said he averages two steps per second. He picked three people who he wanted to help with his charity crusade. He lost his brother-in-law in 9/11. Lt. Gen Timothy J. Maude was killed in the attack in the Pentagon. The other is the Jason Baker Public Safety Endowment Scholarship Fund in honor of the Marion County Sheriff's Deputy that was killed September 17, 2001. The Jim Cleek Scholarship Fund is named for Campbell's friend and firefighter that lost his battle to cancer. Campbell raised $20,000 in his charity called Step Up For Charity. He said that Nautilus has been a great corporate donor and the company flew him to Vancouver, Washington for the Fit Games. He explained the company treated him like a celebrity for holding the world's record. He noted he was able to "hob knob" with Dick Butkus, a former player of the Chicago Bears, and the Harlem Globe Trotters at the event. Campbell noted that he was not in as good of shape as he would have like to have been. Campbell missed thirty days of training because September is the busy time for his chili pepper business. Campbell produces about 20 tons of chili peppers a year at undisclosed farm. He said that once a year, he has a gathering that pulls chili lovers from around the world to talk about peppers. He said this gathering has been on the Food Channel several times. He noted the undisclosed location makes it more mysterious and attractive for the Food Channel to cover. He said Al Roker did not come but did a voice over instead. He noted that he has now own label called Mild to Wild to market his products that he sells to various markets. Some of the proceeds from his hot sauce sales will go to charity. Campbell has grown peppers for a long time but it was about 15 years ago that he decided to make it his business. "I am one of the few commercially licensed growers of the Red Savina ® Habanero in the world," he said. |
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