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These Crazy People Ran Up All 1,576 Stairs At The ESB Last Night
By
Garth Johnston
Published Feb 9, 2012
Modified Feb 9, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Feb 9, 2012
Modified Feb 9, 2012
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Suddenly we feel so very, very lazy. Here we were, being proud of ourselves for carrying some grocery bags up to our apartment last night... and then we remembered that while we were doing that the 35th Annual Empire State Building Run Up, in which crazy people climb all 1,576 stairs to the top of the iconic building, was being held. Do you realize that 16 men and 1 woman were able to do the whole thing in under 13 minutes?
Once again Thomas Dold, 27, of Germany took top honors in the Individual Men race, doing the whole run in 10:28 (down from his winning 10:10 climb last year). This was Dold's seventh consecutive win. You'd think he'd let somebody else get a chance? As for the Individual Women race, 42-year-old Melissa Moon of New Zealand won that race, getting to the top in 12:39. It was her second win (she last took to the top spot in 2010 with a 13:13 time).
The record for the run—which raises money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation—remains 9:33, a time that was achieved in 2003. But considering the increasing popularity of the event that probably won't last long—this year it was more popular than ever with 666 runners, 441 men and 225 women, going to the top. Last year only 400 gave it a go.
So, now that we feel incredibly lazy, let's all sit back and watch video of last year's event, and work on a petition to make next year's contestants eat a box of Krispy Kremes at the finish line.
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empire state building
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road runners
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Garth Johnston
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