NYRR Empire State Building Run-UpClick on a thumbnail to view a larger image of each photo. Click here for race story. |
The 30th annual NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up, an invitational race, featured three heats of seeded runners, beginning with the women. |
 The top-seeded men followed five minutes behind the women. Defending champion Thomas Dold of Germany is in the yellow singlet. |
Another heat of men started five minutes later. The runners must sprint for position across the Empire State Building lobby to enter a narrow doorway into the stairwell. |
 Four-time winner Cindy Moll-Harris of Indianapolis, heavily favored to win the women’s race, captured second place with 13:24. Moll-Harris has also won stair climbs in Chicago, Indianapolis, and elsewhere. |
Ron Hiestand (#22) finished in 15:22; Gregg Brown’s (#77) time was 19:19. Many finishers say that completing the Run-Up is harder than running a marathon. |
At last! After 86 flights—1,576 steps—finisher Sohyang Kim emerged from the dark, dusty stairwell onto the Observation Deck. Kim finished in 22:25. |
From there, it’s just a quick half-lap around the deck to the finish… |
 …approximately a fifth of a mile over Manhattan, with spectacular views for those not too exhausted to see straight. |
Naoto Hirota celebrated just a few feet before crossing the finish line in 19:35. |
Suzy Walsham, an Australian former world-class track racer now living in Singapore, won a tower climb there last year. First prize: a trip to New York for the NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up. |
Dold passed at least 10 runners in the stairwell to emerge in first place and stride uncontested to the finish. |
 For Emmy Stocker of Cos Cob, CT, the Run-Up is an annual event. Stocker was the 16th woman finisher, in 16:27. |
Jeffrey Pellis, represented the FDNY, finished in a time of 13:43. |
Runners dressed lightly to avoid overheating in the stairwells, then faced bracing cold in just the final few seconds. |
Walsham surprised just about everyone with her win, crossing the line in 13:12 for her first NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up title. |
 Dold claimed victory for a second straight year, finishing in 10:25. |
Jahn Matthais of Germany, a friend and training partner of Dold, grabbed the runner-up spot with his 10:56 clocking. |
Jodi Gravino (10th in 15:34) and Lynda Hubbard (12th, 15:41), looking none the worse for wear, display their well-earned finisher medals just moments after the race. |
