EIU Alumni Spotlight - Justin Stewart

Little did he know that what has become a side venture for him would lead to a change in careers that has him now in a position to save lives on a routine basis as a firefighter with the city of Springfield.

Stewart's climb of the Hilton Hotel was in part to raise money for the American Lung Association's 'Fight for Air Climb' campaign.   Stewart climbed for 12 hours covering a distance of 38,000 feet to set the Guinness World Record for "The Most Vertical Feet Stair Climbed in 12 hours."  To give a comparison, the height of Mount Everest is 29,029 feet.

The ability to raise money for an organization that saves lives is a direct correlation to the type of work that Stewart does with his current career.  The comparison on the height he climbed in that hotel in Springfield is given for people to understand the sheer magnitude of the number of steps he climbed.  However comparisons for Stewart come from some of the moments that have come early on in his firefighting career.

"One moment that I will never forget is being in my first fire," said Stewart.  "Another that sticks out is when a father and a mother gave me a hug and thanked me for helping their child after an accident that occurred.  It is really a gratifying feeling of self-worth and accomplishment when things like that happen."

Moments like that were not on the radar for Stewart when he was a student-athlete at Eastern Illinois from 2006-10.  Stewart's track as a Kinesiology and Sports Studies major was to become a teacher and coach.

"At I EIU I pursued an education to become a teacher and a coach.  I got into my current career as a firefighter because I honestly just wasn't happy where I was at in my career.  I heard the Springfield Fire Department was hiring so I gave it a shot.  I applied because I knew it would be a career that would challenge me every day, physically and mentally.   I knew it was a career where I'd still be helping people in the community.  On August 4, 2014, I got the call that I was number three of nine that was being hired."

That sense of community and helping people is something Stewart fostered as a member of the distance crew at Eastern Illinois.  Teammates and coaches become your family and those bonds become the memories you have of picking up a teammate when they are down.

"I don't have a single favorite memory that sticks out.  What does stick out to me is the culmination of all the little moments I spent with friends, roommates, teammates, coaches and teachers.  The amount of time spent with teammates grinding through a hard workout or those times we'd talk for hours upon hours communicating with nothing but movie or YouTube quotes.  All those little memories add up to my favorite memory of being a student-athlete."

While the teammates become the family for student-athletes and the campus, locker room or field of competition becomes their home-away-from-home, the experiences become what molds those young people.  For Stewart it was not only the experience as a Panther student-athlete that helped shape him but also a former coach that inspired his passion to keep running beyond college.

"Being a student-athlete has in part molded me into the person I am today.  I learned to be a good teammate and I learned how to be a leader.  I learned how to live an independent life away from my family.  EIU gave me the home away from home to do all this.  One person that really inspired me at EIU was former EIU cross country coach Dr. Tom Woodall.  He would know everybody's name and take time to talk to everyone.  He was truly a man of the sport of running.  Much like Dr. Woodall, I am ingrained in EIU and the running program still today because of those experiences."

A second team All-Ohio Valley Conference finisher in indoor track during his time at EIU, Stewart had an injury during his career that turned his focus to cycling.  Following graduation competitive stairclimbing came into the picture which has become a natural fit for his current profession.  In fact in 2012 Stewart was ranked No. 1 in the world in competitive stairclimbing by TowerRunning.com.

"A lot has happened for me since graduation.  I have gotten married to my beautiful wife, Rachel.  We bought and fixed up an old house.  I do work for a barn salvage company that tears down old barns and uses the lumber for custom furniture pieces.  I've become one of the best tower runners in the world setting one Guinness World Record."

Of late the passion to give back to his community has added another layer in addition to his daily duties as a firefighter.   Stewart has gotten back into coaching both cross country and track at the high school level.  It is the marriage of a couple of his passions that has helped the Springfield, Illinois native find daily challenges which lead to daily satisfaction.

"There are many things I love about my current career but one that sticks out is that every shift day is different and each day presents new challenges and opportunities for me to learn and grow."
 
EIU: Class of 2011
Major: Kinesiology and Sport Studies
Sport: Men's Cross Country and Track