Thomas Dold, pictured here in 2008, now has five consecutive Empire State Building Run-up victories (© New York Road Runners)
Defending champion Thomas Dold of Germany looks to join only two other five-time winners when he headlines the field at the 33rd annual NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up on Tuesday, 2 February.
Dold, 25, who has won the last four Run-Ups, would equal Australian great Paul Crake (1999–2003) and Al Waquie of the United States (1983–87) for most victories in this signature race on the NYRR calendar.
Crake - 9:33 - and Andrea Mayr of Austria - 11:23 - are the men's and women's course record holders.
The Empire State Building Run-Up will test the limits of some 315 competitors from 19 states and 17 countries as they race up 86 flights—1,576 steps—to the outdoor observation deck of the world’s most famous office building and the tallest building in New York City. In 2009, Dold crossed the finish line in 10 minutes, 7 seconds, and three-time winner Suzy Walsham of Sydney, Australia, finished in 13:27.
Dold, who graduated in 2009 from his college in Stuttgart, Germany, is a standout in the sport of professional tower climbing, with a lengthy list of victories around the globe, his own website, and several sponsors. Since December, he has commuted to Frankfurt twice weekly to train at the Main Tower, a skyscraper that is 200 metres tall (52 floors and nearly 1,000 stairs).
Cindy Moll-Harris, 41, of Indianapolis, will once again aim for her fifth title. Moll-Harris is the only woman to have won the race four times (1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003).
Ginette Bedard, 76, of Howard Beach, NY, and Piero Dettin, 72, of Venice, Italy, are the oldest female and male participants entered in the race. On the other end of the age spectrum, 24-year-old Kacie Lauren Fischer of Shell Beach, CA, and 18-year-old Anthony John Scimone of Lakeland, FL, are the youngest competitors.
A total of 288 runners finished the 2009 invitational race, the second-most behind the 2008 event’s 308 finishers.
