500 Adrenaline Adventures (Frommer's) - Lois Friedland [167]
Participants approach the finish line atop the Empire State Building.
Looking somewhat out of place in togs and trainers amidst such Manhattan Art Deco splendor, 250 runners gather in the building’s glass and marble lobby. They are congregated for what is essentially a handrail marathon, a vertical sprint to the top through a narrow grey stairwell. They trod a mind numbing 1,576 steps to the 86th floor at 1,050 feet (315m), their ears popping from the change in altitude, to a viewing platform that is often shrouded in clouds. Women go first, dashing across the lobby and jostling up the stairwell in what is a seriously competitive race with not an animal costume in sight. Participation is by invitation only, though anybody is free to make an initial application to the organizers who are called the New York Road Runners. Competitors are chosen by ability and background and there is a nominal registration fee of $30 if chosen. Runners come from all around the world to test their stamina on what proves to many a stairway to hell, where the sheer monotony and exertion means the climb is tough mentally as well as physically. Approximately 10% never make it to the top. Australian professional cyclist Paul Crake holds the overall record, completing this stair crazy challenge in 9 minutes, 33 seconds (that’s 6,593 ft. an hour), the only runner to ever reach the observation platform in under 10 minutes. The winner receives no prize money, just a commemorative medal and a free plane ride back to the event the following year. Thankfully, all the runners are allowed to take the elevator back down.
First held in 1978, the Empire State Building Run Up is the oldest and most prestigious event in a new urban endurance sport called tower running. Now there are similar events all over the world in cities as diverse as Sydney, Moscow, Vienna, and Detroit. One thing they all have in common is a mighty towerblock with hellish steps, some surpassing the Empire State in height and agony. Bangkok’s event at the Westin Banyan Tree Hotel, for example, has 1,093 steps. Tower running is certainly for the fit and upwardly mobile and one thing is guaranteed wherever you choose to do it—if the view does not leave you breathless, the run up will. —CO’M
New York Road Runner’s Club ( 212/860-4455;www.nyrr.org).
When to Go: Early Feb. Check website for details.
JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark Liberty.
$$$ The Michelangelo Hotel, 152 West 51st St. ( 212/765-0505;www.michaelangelohotel.com). $$ Hilton Garden Inn, 63 W. 35th St. ( 212/594-3310;www.hiltongardeninn.hilton.com).
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Iditarod
Call of the Wild
Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A.
Apparently the word “iditarod” is Alaskan Indian for a “distant place,” but I’m not fooled. Those in the know realize it is a word that has no equivalent in English but can be summed up as a grueling, relishing challenge, whipped up and freeze-dried with masochistic lunacy. How else can you describe Alaska’s most famous endurance race, an epic journey of 1,150 miles (1,852km) over desolate tundra, dense forest, frozen rivers, and gale whipped coast? Every first Saturday in March, some 90 competitors gather in Anchorage—teams of mushers (sled drivers) with their frisky bands of yapping Siberian huskies and Alaskan Malamutes. They set off for the distant town of Nome in the north through a wilderness trail that passes through tough sounding settlements such as Rohn Roadhouse, Cripple, McGrath, and Shageluk. The mushers are equipped with axes, snowshoes, and arctic parkas. God knows they’ll need them as they endure a 2-week slog through temperatures that can reach 50°F (10°C) below zero, waist deep snow, howling blizzards and jet black darkness. This race is so tough even the dogs wear boots.
Such pain ahead is belied by the festival atmosphere in Anchorage as the race sets off. Thousands of well bundled