I admit it: I get winded from climbing the subway stairs during my daily commute. On Tuesday, February 2nd, 315 runners spanning the globe voluntarily raced up the 1,576 steps of the Empire State Building (ESB) for the 33rd annual New York Road Runner ESB Run-Up. Even thinking about this makes me winded.

Two New York women, Barbara Cronin-Stagnari (top photo) and Gretchen Grindle Hurlbutt (above and in following photos) took on the challenge and soared up the 86 flights in 16 minutes 46 seconds and 13 minutes 53 seconds, respectively. Gretchen placed first in her age group and second overall. Barbara placed tenth in her age group and 26th overall. Impressive? Just add it to the list of amazing accomplishments Barbara and Gretchen have already performed.

Barbara, a 48-year-old mother of four teenagers and full-time personal trainer coaches youth track and swim teams in her spare time. She completed 22 marathons and seven Ironman Triathlons. Three of these Ironmans were at the world championships in Hawaii; Barbara finished remarkably well, placing eighth in her age group in 2008.

Gretchen, a 31-year-old long-distance runner and first-timer to the ESB Run-Up is a member of the NYAC team and sponsored by Brooks Running. She qualified for and ran in the 2008 Olympic marathon trials. Although she did not make the team, Gretchen is currently training with the prospect of the 2012 marathon trials in mind.

Without a doubt, both women are masters of the long-distance domain. However, a race involving stairs is very unique to the endurance sport and involves a different kind of preparation. Barbara trained for the Run-Up by climbing the bleachers at the Nassau County Aquatic Center 10-20 times per session as well as running the stairs at the Nassau County Medical Center (the only building in her area which has 25 flights). She stayed motivated by meeting up with friends and they ran the 25 flights four times each session. Barbara would polish off two-hour training runs by running stairs. She explained that “after running my first workout at the NCMC, I was so sore I couldn’t run for days!” She modified the remaining workouts so as to avoid any future extreme soreness.

Over-training for a race is equally as bad as under-training. The latter occurred in Gretchen’s case but for valid reasons. She was cleared by her doctor to exercise six weeks after her daughter, Hendrix, was born in September. Also, Gretchen found out that she was accepted into the race in early January, leaving only a few weeks for stair training. “I intended to do more stair-specific workouts, but honestly I probably only did one a week.” To compensate for the lack of stair training, Gretchen did two speed workouts a week, a long run and four to eight mile runs on the other days. She explained, “I ran 13 of 14 days and did yoga twice a week.”

Little stair preparation, coupled with the fact that the winning time for women is usually under 15 minutes, Gretchen was aware that the race would be much harder than long-distance events in which she previously competed. Prior to the race she stated, “I have a feeling that, while pacing myself will be important, my muscles are going to burn nearly the entire way up. In a marathon your muscles don’t burn like that, they just get really, really tired. I believe competing indoors will create greater hydration challenges. The air will be really dry and there are only two water stations along the course.” Her breakfast consisted of a Cliff bar and water, water, water. Gretchen’s efforts to hydrate helped to put her in second place.

Although Barbara completed the Run-Up two years ago in an amazing time of 17:28, she agreed that the Run-Up is extremely different from other endurance events. The experience of being a past participant allowed Barbara to know what to expect and Gretchen’s concerns were right on the mark. Barbara said: “Most endurance events are much longer so 17 minutes should be easy but it was so tough! The air is so dry that breathing becomes difficult very early on in the race, like it would in a sprint. Your legs start to burn early and there is no let up, no recovery time except for the one or two landings.”

At this point, strategy comes into play. A small door just 100 meters into the race concerned Gretchen. Her plan was to “get to the door as fast as I can, get through and then pace the first 20 floors. I don’t want to go too hard in that first quarter of the race. After that, it’s going to hurt either way, so I will just stay focused and pick off the runners ahead of me.”

Gretchen’s strategy worked! She completed the race six minutes faster than her goal. Both women believed that the biggest key to stair success was to keep an even pace; however, Barbara had some alternate strategies. “To take the stairs two at a time, to chew gum to keep my mouth moist and to use my arms to pull on the railing,” served as her attack plan. Her strategy worked as well because she was able to shave almost a minute off of her 2008 finish time.

What could be more exciting than a great finish time or a personal record? Meeting up with the family members who eagerly awaited their stair-climbing enthusiasts got Gretchen pumped for the race. She exclaimed, “I am excited that my husband and four-month-old daughter will be waiting for me at the finish line!” Racers are only given one spectator ticket, thus, Barbara’s children had to stay in school while her husband, Jack (a retired NYC firefighter) met her at the finishers area on the 61st floor of the ESB. On the subject of spectating the Run-Up, Barbara stated that “although there is not really much spectating, it is nice to have the post-race refreshments/party on the top of the ESB. Jack came to watch in 2008 and it was great to have a ride home!”

I timed myself at the Run-Up to see how I compared with the actual athletes:
1. Start line to the first elevator ride (floors one to 80)—approximately five minutes;
2. Second elevator ride (floors 80 to 86) – approximately six minutes (time loss due to the fact that there are only two elevators located on the 80th floor) and
3. Speedwalk from the elevator bank to the finish line—approximately 1.5 minutes.
With a total “race” time of 12.5 minutes, I was just in time to catch Gretchen’s arrival one minute later! Yes, it was a pretty strenuous morning for me…oh, and the competitors.

Kenley Ferrara is a certified personal trainer and running coach for Professional Personal Training Systems (PPTS) as well as a Pacer for Nike. Her website is www.pptswellness.com.