MichaelWTravels

Last year I started off the New Year with a fun and somewhat crazy activity. I decided to join the Coney Island Polar Bears for their annual New Years Day Swim.

I was thinking about swimming again to start off 2013 but it turns out that Kim, Lucas and I will be flying back from Nashville on New Years day. I'm not planning to make the swim an annual event but I'm still a bit bummed to be missing out in 2013.

To make up for missing out on the Polar Bear swim, I decided to enter the New York Road Runners Club lottery in hopes of winning a spot in the Empire State Building Run-Up.
Due to anticipated high demand for a spot, a random drawing was held to select participants for this race. I didn't expect to get a spot but was happy to receive an e-mail that I was in!

This is another one of those wacky and odd events that I've wanted to participate in for a while now. However, while filling out my application I was close to exiting from the page a few times.
I can not imagine how my legs (body?) will feel after running up the Empire State Building!
(It also costs $100 to enter. Definitely not cheap!)

Here is a little about the Empire State Building Run-Up according to the NYRR:

Run like King Kong in the ultimate uphill race: Climb 86 stories to the top of the world's most famous skyscraper! Get vertical as you climb nearly a quarter-mile—and be sure to take in the spectacular view of Manhattan at night as you circle the Observation Deck to finish.

This unusual race was the brainchild of Fred Lebow, and it may have been the first of its kind. The inaugural Run-Up was held in 1978 and was won by Gary Muhrcke—the former firefighter who was already renowned for winning the first-ever New York City Marathon in 1970. While visitors can reach the observation deck via elevator in under a minute, the fastest runners cover the 1,576 stairs in about 10 minutes.

I've been having fun running 5Ks and participated in a 5 mile race on Thanksgiving this past year but I have a feeling that this is going to be the toughest quarter-mile that I've ever ran!

It's almost time to start doing some sort of training for this race. Any suggestions for training ideas would be a big help!

If you've ever entered a crazy race or event, I'd love to hear about it!

Check out the NYRR event page for the Empire State Building Run-Up HERE

buckeyefanflyer

I am a NYRR member and I wanted to do it but it was not on a weekend. I have run 35 marathons and did the 60K 5 times so I am looking for a good challange.

MichaelWTravels

Wow! 35 marathons! This stair climb is going to be killer! I was wondering also why it was on a weeknight.

tcook052

When is the run?

Analise

Good luck to all of the runners! Wow.

buckeyefanflyer

February 6, 2013 No open enrollment avaliable, on charity spots.

closetasfan

good luck!

MichaelWTravels

Thank you all! It is going to be a killer climb. I hope that I can walk the next day.

oldgoldflyer

I kind of feel you have to run up steps to train for this. Running on flat ground uses different muscles than climbing and running up stairs.

MichaelWTravels

Agreed but not sure I want to do too much stair climbing prior to it! We'll see.

oldgoldflyer

I would not do too much, but not doing any seems like a mistake. When you get to floor 30 or so, you want to feel like you have been there before.

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LOCommish

My cousin has done this run a few times over the years. My husband joined him about 3 maybe 4 years ago and trained doing 100 flights on the stairmaster a few times a week. It's definitely different - especially at the start when a mass (even when broken into groups) of humanity tries to squeeze into a stairwell. You may wanna keep that in mind as you line up.

Enjoy and best of luck! 86 flights - no elevator. No problem!

MichaelWTravels

Thanks for the info! Maybe I should do some training for this! How long did it take your husband to complete the climb?

LOCommish

My husband was towards the back of the pack - finishing in around 32 minutes. (Of course, we'd also taken a red-eye from LV that morning so he wasn't as prepared as he could have been.) To give a measure - he normally does a half marathon in about 2 & 1/2 hours. He found the confines of the stairwell very stuffy, making it difficult to breath.

My cousin is a much more of a "real" runner than my husband. He's done the stairs 5 or 6 times I think with an average time of about 16-17 minutes.

Best of luck! Be sure to post your post-race!