10/11/2022
“30 for 30” article
By Laura M. Levy
Sometimes those defining moments in your life ARE captured in a photo. For me, a recent “30 for 30” photo with Rosanna Baker, Lisa McNair and myself was precisely that.
Rosanna and Gene Baker kindly took me under the wing of their Dawn Patrol, friends who walk the Bisbee 1000 route every Friday morning for over a decade. Rosanna was a natural choice to kick off ultra-marathoner Lisa McNair’s “30 for 30” challenge where in honor of the upcoming 30th annual Bisbee 1000, she walked the route for 30 straight hours!
Inspired by Lisa and knowing “30 days hath September”, my own “30 for 30” is to walk the route every morning this month. In her 14 iterations of the course, Lisa covered 68-plus miles and climbed over 14,448 stairs and 12,600 feet in elevation She says, “I climbed Mount Hood without ever leaving Bisbee!” During my walk, it is the Bisbee morning regulars that have turned this “challenge” into a pleasure as I share my mornings with a girl named Sue, Backwards Bruce, a determined arthritic lady, the garbage guys, Sonia and so many others who - as Marie says, “walk to live”. Thank you all!
Also posed in that fateful “30 for 30” photograph is the creator of the Bisbee 1000 route, Cynthia Conroy. As founder and president of Bisbee Vogue, Inc. (BVI), her non-profit organization advocates fitness and gives back to the community in countless ways. While the Bisbee 1000 has attracted participants through the US and beyond for 30 years strong on race day, the route challenges locals and visitors year-round. BVI has also developed the Outdoor Recreation Center (BORC) on Higgins Hill. The BORC includes the community pool, basketball and pickleball courts and the National Fitness Center. Another new project will be launched soon.
Whether you walk 30 hours, 30 days or 30 steps – it is the commitment to do so that benefits both your physical and mental well-being. Nowhere offers a more supportive and unique place than Bisbee to stay fit.
When I complete my “30 for 30” challenge on September 30th, will I take a break? No. Oct 1st is Dawn Patrol Friday! Stay tuned. My next project involves the other 30,000-plus stairs in Bisbee.
