Christian Lazore and Melissa Mann Christian Lazore walked to the top of the Central Park concrete exercise staircase in Saugus, then back down. He did it 100 times. And he did it in one day over the course of nine and a half hours without a break, eating and drinking while he walked.  According to Melissa Mann, most people participating in the “August 100” challenge of 2023 did no more than 10 to 30 sets at a time on a given day to complete their monthly goal of 100 sets. That was the case for Mann and her friends. On the last day of the challenge, she and her group were finishing their sets when they saw Lazore, who just kept going up and down the steps.   “He wasn’t leaving,” Mann said. “Then all of a sudden, it comes out later, he was doing all 100 sets on the last day.” She pointed to the Central Park stairs and added, “He did 100 of these in one day.”  Saugus residents Mann, 37, and Lazore, 43, spoke with The Signal earlier this month at Central Park about a movement they lead called the SCV Stairs Project. What started as a Facebook group to encourage local residents to go out to the steps and walk 100 sets in one month has since grown to well over 1,000 followers on multiple social media platforms, and into a community of people who go out to the stairs regularly to exercise and help others.  According to city of Santa Clarita Communications Division Manager Carrie Lujan, the response to the stairs, which are open daily to the public from sunrise to sunset, has been enormously positive since the city installed them.  The staircase, she said, which is made up of 172 steps, cost approximately $11.87 million and was part of the Central Park Buildout project that was completed in October of 2023. She added that the plan included “much more than just the staircase,” and that funding came from the American Rescue Plan Act COVID-19 Response Fund.   “The city was able to utilize these funds,” Lujan wrote in an email, “because they could be used for ‘loss of economic impact’ due to a number of sports tournaments and events, which are held at the park (and) had been put on hold as a result of COVID-19.”  Lazore was out at the steps on the Fourth of July in 2023 before the official ribbon cutting ceremony. He and a friend were doing 50 sets of steps for the 50 U.S. states, the two of them carrying full-size American flags while they did their sets. And when they finished, they secured the flags at the top of the staircase. Both flags were still there earlier this month.   Melissa Mann, left, and Christian Lazore stand at the top of the exercise stairs earlier this month in Central Park in Saugus. Lazore holds the flag he placed at the top of the steps on the 4th of July in 2023. Habeba Mostafa/The Signal “The city left them up there,” Lazore said. “And I was like, ‘I want to share this with everybody.’ I really felt like I left a piece of myself up there that day.”  The next month, Lazore got the idea to do what has since become the annual “August 100” challenge. The idea was that those who were up to it would, during the month of August, complete 100 sets of the stairs.   “There were already quite a few regulars,” Lazore said. “So, I invited them to the ‘August 100’ Facebook group.”  The group took off, with many wanting to walk the 100 sets of steps in the span of the month.  “I was just looking for 20 or 30 friends to come here and stay motivated together,” Lazore said.  According to Mann, the “August 100” drew upwards of 200 people. She didn’t know Lazore at the time. A friend of hers, who knew Lazore’s wife, invited Mann into the group.   “I didn’t know what it was,” Mann said. “She (her friend) just added me in there. And I was like, ‘Oh, this is cool. I’m into the health and wellness space, and I’m always up for a good challenge.’ I rallied a bunch of friends, and I asked, ‘Hey, you want to do this with me?’”  When she got to the stairs and started walking, she also got to talking with others participating in Lazore’s challenge. Mann thrived on the support she saw among people there, and she enjoyed encouraging others, as well. She admitted it was addicting. She was immediately hooked.  Mann later reached out to Lazore through the Facebook group and expressed how impressed she was with what he was doing.  “The next day,” Mann said, “he sent me a message, and he was like, ‘Hey, do you want to go grab Starbucks?’ In my mind, I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m married. How do I make this clear?’ I didn’t know what he wanted or what his intention was. I wrote back, ‘I need to chat with my husband. What’s on your mind?’”  Lazore wrote back, clarifying that he was married, too, and he assured her that he just wanted help. The project, he said, had grown too big for him to manage himself.  Mann was eager to get involved. She joined forces with Lazore in September 2023, and that’s when the SCV Stairs Project was born.   Melissa Mann, left, and Christian Lazore run the SCV Stairs Project to grow the athletic community in Santa Clarita. Habeba Mostafa/The Signal Lazore and Mann began coming up with new monthly challenges, like the 9/11 climb where participants did 14 sets of steps (14 because the World Trade Center towers were about 1,400 feet tall), and October’s contest where people were challenged to do 31 sets of steps for Halloween.   Part of the work that Lazore and Mann do includes collecting pictures and video of people finishing their sets and cataloguing the names of those who finish. Much of that content is on social media.  For the “August 100” challenges, the SCV Stairs Project produces T-shirts with the names of those who complete their 100-sets challenge. That’s only fueled the popularity of the project, and more and more people have been joining the community.  “It’s incredible,” Mann said. “You had people who were sharing stories of overcoming cancer, some saying, ‘I’m walking for my dad who just passed away,’ and then people like me and my girlfriends who do this because we’re moms and we want to stay healthy and fit for our kids and fit for ourselves. You just had these deep stories that were coming out.”  According to 61-year-old Sand Canyon resident Jenny Andrade-Rodgers, she got involved with the SCV Stairs Project last year because of the community that had formed around it.  “Honestly, I didn’t even know those stairs existed,” she said in a telephone interview. “I don’t usually go to Saugus. I saw someone posting on Facebook and I got curious and went over there.”  Andrade-Rodgers added that she bonded with people right away. They’d constantly challenge each other to top what they’d previously accomplished.   “You meet a lot of people — very nice people,” she said. “And then you’re exercising — it’s really good cardio. It’s outdoors, it’s free. The scenery is nice — you get to see the most beautiful sunrises and really beautiful sunsets.”  Andrade-Rodgers really got int it. Through the month of October 2023, she did 1,000 sets of steps. That’s not a typo. That’s a thousand. She’s since slowed down because she doesn’t want to overdo it, but she’s still a regular and very active.  Canyon Country resident Carlos Soria said he’s seen the SCV Stairs Project community really inspire others. While some in the group enjoy friendly competition, people are mostly there to support one another and do their personal best.   “You get people who are wanting to do it as exercise — at all different levels and for different reasons,” he said. “Next thing you know, you get that FOMO — fear of missing out. People are posting, ‘Hey, I was at the stairs.’ And you’re like, ‘Oh, man, I haven’t been there in a while. I’ve got to get out there.’”  Mann said that she and Lazore don’t discourage anyone from coming out to the steps. It’s not about how many sets you do or how fast you can do them. Mann used to do a mom’s walking group. But that targeted mostly young moms only. The SCV Stairs Project is for the young and the old, male and female, and everyone in between.  Christian Lazore, left, and Melissa Mann sit on the exercise stairs earlier this month in Central Park in Saugus. Habeba Mostafa/The Signal “I also don’t just want to appeal to the people who are the regulars who are already motivated,” she said. “I want to help reach the people who are too intimidated to even show up.”  She makes an effort to reach out to those people who find themselves in dark places. It’s a place Mann knows well, having dealt with depression and anxiety. She used exercise during her tough times. Much of her passion came out of wanting to help people going through similar battles.  “One of the sayings I carry with me always is, ‘You’re best equipped to help your previous self,’” she said. “If we’re not out there advocating for and helping support people who are struggling as we have in the past, then what’s the purpose of this life?”  But helping others doesn’t stop there. The SCV Stairs Project also raises money through various challenges for charitable causes. They did a turkey trot last November and donated $1,500 to the Santa Clarita Grocery on Centre Pointe Parkway. They’re planning another one this year.  They’ve also done fundraisers for the Michael Hoefflin Foundation for children’s cancer and one in memory of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, a Santa Clarita Valley resident, who was murdered in September 2023 while on duty in Palmdale.   Lazore is thrilled with how the SCV Stairs Project has been making its mark and bringing people together. It has far exceeded his expectations so far, but it’s what he’d hoped for.  “My goal has been for these stairs to be like the heartbeat of Santa Clarita,” he said. “It’s a place where we can all come together for whatever needs to be celebrated or mourned. I want it to be a place where everyone could just come and congregate and give and be together, whether it’s laughing or crying.”  According to the SCV Stairs Project Facebook page, every step taken on the Central Park stairs represents progress toward a stronger, more connected community. The goal is to elevate the stairs into a symbol of unity, where a simple greeting and a friendly smile become second nature.  Christian Lazore, left, and Melissa Mann admire the American flag at the exercise stairs earlier this month in Central Park in Saugus. Habeba Mostafa/The Signal As Lazore and Mann told their story, several people going up and down the stairs said hello to the two. Mann shouted to a father of two girls, “Good job, dad. Good job getting the girls out here,” to which the father replied, “They’re making me do it.”  Some folks walking the steps even wore their “August 100” shirts, one woman showing off her name on the back of the shirt when she stopped by to say hello. Lazore and Mann were all smiles.  “I’m so grateful for our community,” Lazore said. “Even though we continue to get larger and larger, I don’t ever want that small-town feel to get away from us. Because every time there’s something that goes on in Santa Clarita, whether it was the Saugus shooting or that deputy going down, this community continues to rally.”  Know any unsung heroes or people in the SCV with an interesting life story to tell? Email [email protected].  The post Faces of the SCV: Saugus residents growing SCV Stairs Project step by step  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.