On January 25, more than 1,500 climbers will meet at Fountain Place, in Dallas, to climb 1,040 stairs and raise money to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) to support blood cancer research. The LLS mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Every four minutes, someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer, and every 10 minutes a person loses their battle with blood cancer. More than a million people in the U.S. are currently living with a blood cancer. In 1964, the five-year survival rate for children with ALL (a leukemia) was 3 percent, but today it is 90 percent.

The Big D Climb has shown overwhelming growth since its inaugural year in 2009. In 2013, the climb again broke records again by hosting 1,265 climbers that raced up 52 flights of stairs at Fountain Place and raised nearly $200,000.

Climbers are encouraged to form teams and to fundraise in addition to the $45 registration fee. Fundraising teams receive their own fundraising web page and efforts are rewarded with top-notch incentives, including Big D Climb gear, gift cards, electronics and more. Each climber receives an official event medal, a training pass and training recommendations from trainers at 24 Hour Fitness, as well as entry to the post-climb party at One Arts Plaza, as part of their registration fee. Industry challenges that come with their own sets of prizes include first-responders, with firefighters in full gear, commercial real estate professionals, the Dallas Police Department and others.

This year’s sponsors include Ivie, Inc., Luke’s Locker, Cassidy Turley, 24 Hour Fitness, Be the Match, Dos Equis, Post Properties, Jack FM, Transwestern, Primebar, Condon Thornton Sladek Harrell, Cliff Bar, Reliant Energy, Cash Store, Dallas Morning News and Natural Awakenings Dallas magazine.

For registration and more information, call 972-996-5900, email [email protected] or visit BigDClimb.org and Facebook.com/BigDClimb.