2013 Empire State Building Run Up

Two numbers have haunted me for over a month:  86 and 1,576. 

In late December, I found out that I "won" the lottery for a spot in the 36th Annual Empire State Building Run-Up (ESBRU) on February 6.  This lucky spot gave me the opportunity to run up the 1,576 stairs from the first floor of the Empire State Building to the observation deck on the 86th floor.  (Note:  According to the New York Times, there were 1,955 applicants for 650 lottery spots, so luck was on my side.)  

My walk to the ESBRU

Over the course of the next month, I felt like the ESB has been taunting me.  It sure pops up on TV and movies A LOT.  There I sit after a run, in front of the TV, and a shot of the NYC skyline would appear.  I felt like it was saying "Shouldn't you be training on some stairs right now?"  It was simply a challenge to find time to train for this run-up.  I ran the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge in early January and needed to taper for and recover from that.  In the end, I maybe did about six or seven actual stair training workouts:  two on real stairs, the rest on the stair climber at the gym.   Definitely not the two a week that my coach recommended, but I just couldn't figure out a good place to run real stairs without getting risking getting kicked out by security.  The stair climber helped me figure out how big of a challenge the ESBRU would be on a cardio level; after training on the real stairs I became frantic about my ESBRU mission because I could barely walk when I was done with a workout.   The stair climber was absolutely worthless for training for a real stair climb.  By the way, a 5-story building is not really sufficient for training either? 

Enter February 6.  6:30 p.m.  There I am, walking down 34th Street to 5th Avenue.  Looking up at the beautifully orange-lighted ESB to celebrate the New York Road Runners (NYRR) and all of a sudden I am stuck in a throng of people, feeling like a fish trying to swim upstream.  I was in front of a Victoria's Secret and I guess some of the models were making an appearance in the store or something.  I like to thought I'd never get through that mess! 

Hanging out with Jackie before the start

Finally I made my way to 5th Avenue and entered the well-known lobby of the ESB and headed upstairs to the second floor to pick up my packet.  It was kind of funny when I picked up my packet.  A few participants saw my Kansas license and were shocked I'd come "all the way from Kansas."  (Looking at the results, there were only a handful of runners that were not from New York or New Jersey.  There were a few from Florida then California, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Hawaii.   I felt proud to represent flyover country.) Once I had my packet, it was time to wait for my turn to head up the ESB stairs.

The ESBRU is held from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m.  Lottery runners start at 8:30.  The runners are called by number in groups of 100 and lead back down to the first floor of the building, down through the lobby and around to the stairwell.  Runners are released one runner at a time every 7 seconds to prevent mass chaos in the stairwell.

Unfortunately, I was bib number 1044.  This meant that I didn't get to launch until 9:30.  It was a long wait from picking up my bib at 7:00 to getting to start the event.  It was a long time to be anxious.  I was excited, though, that I was able to meet a fellow Marathon Maniac, Jackie, that I've met in the past and see on Facebook frequently.  We hung out until it was her turn to line up for the run-up.  Otherwise, to occupy myself, I talked to other runners and sat around.  I also got to rub elbows with Kelly Ripa, who was running this for charity.   Okay, okay.  So I didn't talk to her, but I did watch her head off to get ready for the run up. 



Kelly Ripa and Gelman


 When it was finally my turn to head downstairs for the run up, I made sure I was in the front of the line.  My patience was wearing thin.  I was tired from getting up for my flight at 4:30 a.m. and then walking around site seeing in the City for 3 hours that afternoon.  I was tired and ready to go to bed. 

When it was finally my turn, I stepped up to the mat, and took off for the stairwell at a slow jog when I heard the word "go".  It was really bizarre stepping into this seemingly empty staircase in this super famous building.  I was excited and nervous...and here's my first mistake.  I took the advice of several runners and took off for the first few flights two steps at a time.  I've never tried to run 2 stairs at a time.  By the 5th flight, I was so out of breath it was pathetic.  I was kind of like "Uh oh.  How am I going to make up it 81 more flights?"  Other runners started passing me on the left, and I convinced myself to ignore them and just started taking the steps one at a time on a quick pace. 

By the time I got to the 20th floor, I was really huffing and puffing, but I felt like I finally had a system down.  At the 20th floor, runners change stair cases and there is a little aid station, so I caught my breath and headed for more stairs.
 
My method for the first 20 flights was messed up when I got to floors 20 through 65.  These floors had two little stairs, a turn, 20 something stairs, a turn, a walk across a landing, and then the pattern repeated.  I welcomed the walk across the landing, and I came to dread the two steps and turn.  It was amazing to me how much energy the two steps and then turn used.  On the long stretch of stairs I would pull myself up with my right arm, and when that arm got tired, I would switch back and forth pulling myself up with my right arm and left arm.  All the while I am getting passed by other runners (and eventually passed two myself). 

The starting line!

The stair wells are dark grey and dimly lighted.  Someone in a New York Times article compared it to the inside of a battleship.  Sometimes you are completely alone on a flight of stairs...all you can hear is your breath, your heartbeat, foot steps and the huffing and puffing and gasping of fellow runners on other flights of stairs.  Oh...and your lungs feel like they are going to pop out of your mouth.  Also, you cannot see the dust but by the 43rd story, I knew I was inhaling dust.  My respiratory system was on fire.  Partially the cardio.  Partially the dust.  Thankfully Jackie had told me to chew gum during the run up to keep my throat from getting dry.  It was probably a lifesaver.  Even with gum, by the 50th floor I was so ready to get water at the 65th floor.

Cheesy self-finishers portrait

The only cheerleaders are security guards occasionally stationed on floors to make sure all is well.  I do have to say that every one of them seemed to be enjoying themselves.  They rooted on the runners like a true spectator.  Maybe it was just exciting for them to have something to actually see while they work the night shift?

I know, it sounds miserable, right?  But I was having that kind of fun that only a marathoner could describe as fun.  Besides I was in the stairs of the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING.  I wanted to be there.  These pep talks didn't help the other side of my brain that asked me what the heck I was doing to myself.   The doorways to each floor had the floor number on them, and I just found myself looking for the number on every floor and eventually had to stop myself.  It was kind of like watching the tenths of a mile go by on a treadmill.  I was driving myself crazy thinking how much further I had to keep going. 
At the 65th floor, you pop out into a hallway.  It was so bright.  There were happy people handing out water.  It just looked like civilization.  ...and then I had to go back into another staircase.  With a different pattern of stairs.  I think this one involved two shorter series of stairs and shorter landings...but I don't really remember.  Around the 70th floor I was just trying not to puke or pass out.  At the 72 floor I took a one minute breather on the landing.  (A nice breathless runner made sure I was okay.)   My legs never really got tired...but the cardio workout of going up all those stairs so quickly was wiping me out.  Other runners would be taking breathers or pep talking themselves into moving up the stairs more quickly.  It was a total mind game to keep going.    

Speaking of the Chrysler building....

At this point I was around a group of people that were counting down the floors.  That was great, except I'd either hear the number for the floor ahead of me or the floor behind me, so I really got messed up with how much further I had to go...until finally, one last right turn and the stairwell to the observation deck.  It had to be only 15 stairs but I swear to you it looked like 1,000.  I stumbled up the stairs and made a left turn and was greeted with 20 degree fresh air.  I remember gasping in joy and almost doubling over.  The run around the observation deck to the finish line was glorious.  Fresh air!  Gorgeous view!  Flat!!  I jogged on into the building and received my finisher's medal.  Nice and shiny like the top of the Chrysler building!  (Yes...I had to stick in an Annie reference.)

I heard it takes the elevator about 1 minute and 2 seconds to get to the observation deck.  It took me 24:51 (official time).  The average times were probably 18 to 20 minutes.  I was just happy to beat half an hour.   There were 724 finishers:  427 men and 248 women.  I finished 516th -  208 people were slower than me. 

Shortly after crossing the finish line, I started coughing.  I'd been warned that this would happen because of the dusty stairwells.  Let me tell you, there's nothing like a chorus of runners that sound like they've all been smoking a pack every day for 20 years.  I grabbed a bottle of water, took a quick photo on the observation deck, and headed for the elevators to the ground floor.


Race Goodies

When I got in the elevators, a traditional recording came on in a polite woman's voice:  "We hope you have enjoyed your ESB observation deck experience..." I was kind of like, "Oh, recorded lady, you don't even know the half of it."

 I have loved the ESB for years.  In 2007, it was the first thing I did when I went to Manhattan.  Yes, it was a long trip from Kansas City for a short race (thankful for Southwest Rapid Rewards points!), but it's an experience I will never forget.  For the rest of my life, whenever I see the ESB I will see it through a completely new set of eyes.  I cannot wait to reminiscence when I head back to NYC this fall for the 2013 marathon!