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Feb-3-2009
Dold & Walsham Defend Empire State Building Titles
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
NEW YORK (03-Feb) -- As the snow swirled around the 86th floor outdoor observatory of this city's tallest building, Thomas Dold of Germany and Suzy Walsham of Australia were the first to emerge from the arid stairwell in their respective heats and defend their titles at the 32nd Empire State Building Run-Up.
Dold, a 24 year-old economics student from Stuttgart, was the first man to dart into the stairwell from the starting line in the building's gleaming Art Deco lobby, and was unchallenged as he powered his way up the 1576 steps to the 86th floor. Trying to become just the fourth athlete to break the ten minute mark here, Dold had to settle for a personal best of 10 minutes and 7 seconds. It was his fourth straight victory here.
"It's getting harder every year because there are really only a few guys who want to win," said Dold who was still coughing from the stairwell's dry air.
"It's like in car racing... you have to lead at the start."
Dold easily outpaced Italy's top mountain runner, Marco De Gaspari, who finished a distant second in 10:29. Rickey Gates, the 2007 USA trail running champion from Boulder, Colo., finished third in 10:40, the same position as last year. Dold, De Gaspari and Gates were the only athletes to get under 11 minutes.
Like Dold, Walsham tried to get into the stairwell first, but the women's start was unusually aggressive this year, and the 35 year-old former middle distance runner got shoved from behind and crashed into the wall next to the doorway, hitting her face and left knee, hard.
"As I headed for the door I was sideswiped into the concrete," said Walsham who is getting married next month.
Veterans of the race said they were surprised by the level of aggression they witnessed at the start. "There were just too many people hitting the door at the same time," said Stacey Creamer, a 49 year-old publishing executive from Manhattan who finished 12th, "She was down on the ground, flat," she said of Walsham. "Three people picked her up."
Walsham overcame the shock of the accident, and decided to continue with the race. "I was in a lot of pain," she said, balancing an ice bag on her knee and speaking slowly because her lip was visibly swollen. "It was very, very hard."
Walsham ran her slowest time of her three victories, here, clocking 13:27.
Italian Daniela Vassalli finished second in 13:40 while four-time champion, Cindy Harris of Indianapolis, finished third, 9 seconds behind Vassalli.
New York Road Runners president and CEO, Mary Wittenberg, said that runner safety was always her staff's highest priority. "Obviously the safety of our runners is our first concern," she said. "It's a very, very unique race... and it requires a lot of etiquette out there."
Wittenberg was impressed by Walsham's ability to collect herself and still managed to win. "It's an unbelievable testament to our champion that she could have stopped for help at any point," she said.
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