Annual Crunch Fitness challenge invites public to climb 110 flights of stairs for 9/11 remembrance

WARNER ROBINS – Sept. 11 undoubtedly made an impact on America’s history, and locally, a gym wants to ensure the day is never forgotten. Crunch Fitness hosted a 9/11 Remembrance Stair Climb Challenge on the 24th anniversary of the attacks in New York City, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93.

The challenge is held at all Fitness Ventures-operated locations – 62 total across 28 states – including Warner Robins. Crunch Fitness members, non-members and first responders were invited to climb 110 flights of stairs for the 110 floors of the World Trade Center.

Jayda Smith, Crunch Fitness Warner Robins’ group fitness coordinator, said all day Thursday, the StairMaster machines are sectioned off for participants to use for the challenge.

This remembrance resonates with Central Georgia firefighters who participate in the challenge. In 2024, members from Peach, Crawford and Houston County departments participated. Some firefighters will even climb in full gear, Smith mentioned.

“It’s a really powerful thing to see, as you imagine what the firefighters and everyone involved might have been thinking and what it might have felt like for them to have to climb up,” Smith said.

The event has been held every year in Warner Robins since Crunch Fitness’s opening, and Smith reported around 100 people typically taking the challenge, remembering their participation on a signed poster.

Smith has done the challenge twice so far and said climbing over 100 flights of stairs is physically demanding. Her average was 26 minutes to complete the challenge.

During that time, reflecting on the challenge takes an emotional toll as well.

“It brings up a lot of respect for the people who were involved, a lot of sadness and thinking about the people who didn’t go home and the families that never got to see their loved one again,” Smith said.

Smith said 343 firefighters lost their lives during the attacks, and over 2,000 more retired with injuries. Respect for local first responders and remembrance of the 9/11 attacks are what she hopes participants take away from the challenge.

“Even though it’s been all of these years, I hope it’s just able to give [participants] a moment to sit and reflect and remember that this did happen, and it was so big,” Smith said. “There are still people today who were affected, whether personally or their families. I just hope it helps us to never forget.”