Nearly 1,000 participants gathered on Saturday, February 4, 2017, for the 15th Annual Tackle the Tower at the Galleria & Tower at Erieside. The Galleria was abuzz with runners and walkers who climbed 37 floors, or 728 steps, to support the families of the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland.

The event kicked off with a Fun Walk, followed by the race. Runners took a break to cheer on Cleveland mascots – Moondog of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Ketchup, Mustard, and Onion of the Cleveland Indians, Pozzie of the Canton Charge, Webster of the Akron Rubber Ducks, and Skipper of the Lake Erie Captains. Moondog beat the all-time mascot record with a time of 6:44.1.

Ronald McDonald rang the start of the Firefighter Challenge. Firefighters from more than 20 stations climbed the stairs in full gear, weighing in at more than 40 pounds! Some even wore air masks. (Many departments use the Tackle the Tower as a training opportunity.) Both the male and female Firefighter Challenge records were shattered: Joshua Allen with a time of 6:43.5 and Natalie Tomcsak with 7:58.1.

Two other all-time records were bested this year: Male 60 and Over – Jeff Winch with 5:35.7; Female 20 to 24 – Audrey Smolik with 5:36.9. Race times are now posted on the Hermes Cleveland website.

We could not put on Tackle the Tower without the help of dozens of volunteers who worked race day. Thank you! We would also like to thank our very generous sponsors: Life Storage, Majestic Steel USA, Athersys, Cleveland Monsters, The Anderson DuBose Company, Coca-Cola, Sirna & Sons Produce, Weston Hurd LLP, Consolidated Solutions, and Suburban Press. A special shout out goes to CARE, Cleveland Association of Rescue Employees, for providing EMT to keep our runners safe and healthy.

Make sure to visit our photo gallery on our Facebook page.