Sally, who will be racing up the Eiffel Tower in France when this article comes out, is seen here on March 4 of this year after running up Rockefeller Center in New York City.

by Len Lear

Sally Kalksma, a 55-year-old mother of three grown children who used to organize 5-K races at the Jersey Shore, was stunned in 2009 when the life-long athlete was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the blood. As if that was not bad enough, her husband, Pete, a commercial diver who did salvage work all over the world, died a few months later at age 49 of skin cancer. “I was faced with being a widow at the age of 47 with three children,” she said, “and going back to work full-time, all while dealing with cancer.”

Understandably angry, Sally took out her rage not on people but on stairs — countless thousands of them. The 5-foot-7, 125-pound courthouse employee with the Ocean County, NJ, Board of Elections (there is no “local angle” here, unless Sally decides to climb the steps at the Water Tower in record time), runs every day at lunch and after work, but that's just for openers. (Sally started competing in races when she was 7 years old. She ran track, winter track and cross country in high school and track and cross country for Glassboro State College, now renamed Rowan University.)

Starting in 2012, Sally began competing in stair climbing competitions in some of the country's tallest buildings. Her first one was the “Empire State Building Run Up,” and she has competed in more than 50 since then.

“I would just climb harder and harder, faster and faster,” she said. “Every building is different, but I can climb 90 flights, which is 45 stories or floors, in about nine to 11 minutes. I did the Empire State Building, which is 86 stories or 172 flights, in 18 minutes and one second … I always go up two steps at a time and use the handrail to help pull myself up!”

Sally prepared for her first stair climbing race by doing lots of stairs, twice a day, and mixing in some running and weight lifting. Has she ever started a stair climbing race that she did not finish? “NO, never!” insisted the stair master who has raced in the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago, the Comcast Center in Philadelphia and the Empire State Building, among others.

After Sally’s husband died, when she went back to work full-time at the Ocean County Board of Elections, she felt “like a caged animal working at a desk in an office for eight hours a day,” so every day at lunch she would run up the stairs in her office building in order to relieve stress and get exercise.

Sally is seen here in 2014 with her daughter, Dana, who was 21 at the time, as they both raced in the Empire State Building Run Up to raise money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Sally was diagnosed twice with the incurable blood cancer, and Dana has undergone surgery to remove cancerous tumors from her spine and leg. (Photos courtesy of Sally Kalksma)

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) heard about her and invited her to participate in the prestigious Empire State Building Run Up (ESBRU) to raise awareness for the MMRF. Not only did Sally get completely caught up in the training, but she also dedicated her time to raising funds for the MMRF. In the past five years over $1.7 million has been raised for multiple myeloma research by participants in the ESBRU.

Sally has competed in stair climbs all over the world, as well as other races for the MMRF, including a 200-mile relay and a 5K chaired by her oncologist, Dr Edward Staptmauer, of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. On February 2 of last year, Sally had a stem cell transplant after the multiple myeloma returned, so her stair climbing had to be put on hold for awhile, but it’s impossible to keep Sally stationary for long. She is now cancer-free.

Sally has appeared on numerous talk shows and radio interviews all while training, working full-time and supporting her three children, one of whom is a college professor, one a law school student and one a medical school student. Within five years Sally became ranked 20th overall in the world and 5th overall in the U.S. by the World Tower Running Association.

As someone who used to run up fire escape hotel stairs during vacations, I know it is brutal. The lactic acid in the legs, the exhaustion of the lungs and pounding of the heart are overpowering after five or 10 flights, not to mention dozens more. “It’s not fun,” Sally has said, “but the high you get from it lasts a week.”

According to the website of the Towerrunning World Association, the sport of stair racing in skyscrapers is becoming more and more popular. More than 140,000 racers now compete in about 250 sky-high towers and outdoor stadiums in 55 countries, but it is doubtful if any of those racers is quite like Sally, competing at a world-class level after battling cancer twice.

Sally is seen here climbing the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago. She is rated the 5th best overall stair climber in the U.S. by the World Tower Running Association.

What would be Sally’s advice to someone who has received a cancer diagnosis?

“Educate yourself, and find out everything and every resource available. When I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, I reached out to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Not only do they spearhead new therapies, but they have the resources that help me in so many other ways, too. You should accept people's help, but do not pity yourself! Things will eventually get better. And most importantly, laugh. If you look hard enough, you can find the humor in almost anything.”

What would Sally say to someone who says he/she is too busy with work and family to spend much time working out? “You must invest in yourself! You have to take care of yourself mentally and physically. Anyone can carve 30 minutes out of their day for themselves. Find what's not as important as you, and replace it with YOU.”

What is the hardest thing Sally has ever done? “Tell my three children about their father's diagnosis.”

This year Sally, who is writing her first book, is the only elite American invited to race up the Eiffel Tower’s nearly 1700 steps in Paris against 39 competitors from around the world. She was supposed to compete in it last year but was derailed by her cancer recurrence. She is competing on March 15, the day this article comes out.

“Cancer may take the years out of my life,” she said, “but it’s not going to take the life out of my years!”

More information at www.ktvu.com/news/309089092-video or www.themmrf.org/.