Annals of Inanity–Running Up Stairs…Lots and Lots of Stairs: You’d think racing to the tops of tall buildings would be a half-assed sport, sort of a joke hobby for anyone who gets claustrophobia in an elevator. But the world of extreme sport is endlessly inventive and there always seems to be more than a few people who will happily devote their time to the fringes of athletic endeavor (remember “extreme ironing”?). So it comes as no real surprise to discover that there is a large and physically fit segment of the sporting population that is devoted to stair racing, and today is their Super Bowl, otherwise known as the “Fleet Empire State Building Runup” (my god, they even have serious sponsors!). Anyhow, the concept is obvious, and in the case of this particular sideshow, I mean sporting contest, men and women will race up 86 floors of the Empire State Building. That’s 1,576 steps. And believe it or not, the world record is a mere 9 minutes and 33 seconds. Sounds impressive, but maybe it’s more understandable if you do the math and find that’s 2.75 steps per second. Hope they have some defibrillators on hand…..



Empire State Start: “Out of my way, elevator-legs, first runner to the observation deck gets to use the telescopes for free…”