School Board VP, Avid Athlete to Rappel Off Building For Special Olympics

Most people know longtime Fort Lee resident Linda McCue as the current vice president of the , although she’s this year.

Those who know McCue well, however, also know her as an avid and accomplished athlete, who runs, cycles, swims, trains constantly, and who, by her own estimation, has completed eight to 10 triathlons and has plans to take part in more this summer.

But McCue also has plans to try something she’s never tried before: rappelling off a 15-story building.

McCue is currently raising funds through a website for “Over the Edge,” an event benefitting the Special Olympics, which takes place on June 22 in Arlington, VA.

Her fundraising goal is $1,000, and as of Wednesday afternoon after just a couple of days, she had already raised more than $350 toward that goal.

McCue said each aspiring rappeller has to raise the thousand bucks in order to get into the event, but that the proceeds benefit the Special Olympics and don’t cover her expenses.

The total fundraising goal from the event, according to the Over the Edge website is $75,000.

McCue said she was asked by her friend and swimming coach to take part in the event, and the self-described “adrenaline junkie” figured it was worth a try for a worthy cause.

“She’s very active in fundraising events,” McCue said of her friend with whom she plans to participate. “She’s in the tourism business, and she’s always raising funds for something.”

She said the two bike, swim and run together all the time, and that when her friend asked her if she would like to rappel off a building, her answer was, “Sure, why not?”

“I couldn’t come up with a good enough reason not to so we’re in this together, and our training just consists of biking, running and swimming; there’s nothing that’s going to prepare us for rappelling,” McCue said. “I guess if you’re in good physical shape, you can do anything.”

Asked if she’s ever rappelled off a building a before, McCue said, “No; nothing even close.”

“I’ve done bike, swim, run, mud races; I do have a mud race in two weeks,” she said. “But that’s small climbing—climbing over obstacles, climbing over barricade-type things—but nothing of this height.”

McCue, who said she got into triathlons when she was in her early 40s, has no specific ties to the Special Olympics. But she said there were a few things that made the event seem important to take part in.

“One is, of course, that this is an Olympic year,” she said, adding, “People say, ‘what is it like to rappel?’ And I’m sure it’s going to be a challenge, difficult, maybe scary, but these Special Olympians deal with that every day of their lives.”

“Being an athlete, seeing what these Special Olympians have to overcome and the obstacles they have to overcome, it makes doing what we do look easy,” McCue said.

McCue, whose brother is the manager of the United States Judo team and will be in London this summer for the Olympics, said that most of her friends say she’s “a little crazy.”

“But that’s why they love me,” she said. “People say to me, ‘Why are you doing this?’ And my answer is, ‘Well, because I can.’”

She added, “What’s the worst that could happen? Well, I could die, right? But think of how great the obituary would be.”

If you want to donate to the cause and see McCue rappel off a 15-story building—she promised to provide Patch with video if she could get it—visit her page on the “Over the Edge for Special Olympics” website.

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