NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up

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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.	In conjunction with the 30th NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up, New York Road Runners donated $10,000 to the Australian Cycling Federation Support Paul Crake Appeal in honor of five-time Run-Up champion (1999-2003) and record-holder (9:33) Paul Crake of Australia. Crake, 29, turned to professional cycling in 2004 and was severely injured in an accident during the Tour of Southland in New Zealand on November 11, 2006, fracturing vertebrae in his back and neck. For more information on the Australian Cycling Federation Support Paul Crake Appeal, click here.