On Sunday, a team representing the Otho Fire Department will be ascending several “mountains” in Des Moines as part of the American Lung Association’s Fight For Air Climb.

Otho Fire Chief Marty Smith will be joined by Jodi Smith, of Fort Dodge; Travis Stanberg, of Otho; and Shawna Schuler, of Coalville. This team also completed the challenge together in 2019.

The Fight For Air Climb is an event hosted by the American Lung Association nationwide to raise awareness, support and funds for lung health research. In Des Moines, participants climb the stairs at three downtown high-rises — the EMC Insurance building, the Financial Center and the Ruan Center. In total, there are 91 flights of stairs and 1,936 steps.

“I just hope I finish without dying,” Marty Smith joked.

As part of a relay team, Smith will climb the first building — the EMC Insurance building with its 15 floors and 371 steps. The next two legs of the relay are in the Financial Center with Jodi Smith and Stanberg each ascending its 22 floors and 464 steps. Schuler will complete the summit of the team’s metaphorical mountain at the Ruan Center with its 32 flights and 637 steps. All four will be wearing full firefighter suits and carry a full load of gear weighing around 50 pounds.

As first responders, the Otho team will be given a name tag to wear in honor of a first responder who was killed during the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

While the climb challenge is timed, the Otho team just aims to finish.

“In the past, my goal has been just to do it without stopping, but I doubt I can do that this year,” Marty Smith said. At 74, he’ll be one of the most seasoned participants on Sunday. “I don’t have as much energy as I did when I was younger, but I still keep plugging away at it.”

This year will be the eighth time Marty Smith has participated in the climb. He jokes that he signs up each year because he’s crazy.

“For me, it’s the hardest challenge I’ve ever had in my life,” he said. “I mean, this is way harder than a bunch of the stuff I did in basic training in the service.”

Being the fire chief’s daughter, Jodi Smith was roped into joining the Otho climb team a few years ago. This will be her third year participating. In 2019, she enlisted her friend, Schuler, to join the team.

Stanberg, a firefighter with the Otho department, said this will be his third time completing the challenge.

“I about died the first time,” he joked.

The Otho team will be one of about 15 fire department relay teams on Sunday. For the last several months, the team has been training in the Otho Fire Station, climbing up and down the stairs leading to the workout room. Up and down, up and down, up and down.

Still, it doesn’t quite prepare them for what it feels like to get to the top of those buildings.

“It’s bad when you’re done, like I get to the top and collapse for at least a couple of minutes before I can even take the elevator down to give the baton to the next person,” Jodi Smith said.

“You’re just pushing as hard as you can push, especially at the end to try to finish up strong,” Marty Smith added.

In addition to exhaustion, they feel a great sense of accomplishment when they reach the top, Marty Smith said.

“You’re just happy to be done, but happy you did it,” he said.

“Being at the top, it just feels good once you get it done; it feels good to say you did it,” Jodi Smith said. “We don’t even care if we beat our times last time; we just want to stay active and complete what we started.”

The mission of the American Lung Association is also part of why members of the team volunteer to go through such a grueling challenge.

Marty Smith had a brother who suffered from asthma his whole life and eventually developed the lung disease COPD toward the end of his life, and Jodi Smith’s youngest child has asthma, and they support the American Lung Association’s efforts to fund the development of cures for these lung diseases.

“My grandma passed of lung cancer, so that’s near and dear to my heart too,” Schuler added.

To participate in the challenge, the members of the Otho team had to each raise $100 to donate to the American Lung Association. As a team, however, they have a goal to raise at least $1,000. To donate in support of the Otho Fire Department team, visit https://bit.ly/3Ts7ThY.