86 floors in 10 minutes
IMAGINE staring up the Crown Regency Tower. As you squint to look at the top of the 38-storey building, try to imagine climbing from where you’re standing, to the top, using the stairs, in five minutes.
Sounds impossible right?
Now imagine going through 86 stories in 10 minutes and 7 seconds, using the stairs.
Really impossible?
No. German runner slash climber Thomas Dold did just that in winning the Empire State Building Run Up this year.
What’s a Run Up? It’s just one of those crazy events where people race through the stairs of a really, really tall building.
Dold covered the 1,576 steps in 607 seconds, or an average of 2.5 steps per second, needing just 7.05 seconds to cover a floor! And that’s not even counting the steps he takes in between the flights of stairs! If his pace got slower going to the top, that means he must have rocketed past the first few stories to get that average.
If he was conquering the 38 floors of Crown Regency(at least that’s how tall the building is in my Internet research), he would need only 268.20 seconds. That’s just a shade under four minutes and 30 seconds.
What’s more amazing, his first place finish was 34 seconds off the record. According to Wikipedia, the record is held by Paul Crake, a professional cyclist. Well, that figures, if cyclists are crazy enough to pedal hundreds of miles, climbing 86 stories is nothing for them.
When I got wind of Dold’s achievement, I tried an experiment of my own. I wanted to know how fast I could get from the basement of Sun.Star’s building to the top.
So last Saturday night, when there were a few people at the office and most were busy at their desk, I did my run. I took two steps at a time and climbed the six flights in 28 seconds, then spent the next 10 minutes resting before hobbling down a floor to my desk.
I’m not so sure if a Run Up is a viable option for Cebu sports but I remember I once saw an infomercial on TV about a “watyacallit-stair-machine,” which was basically what a treadmill is for running long distances.
They say if you want to run but can’t afford a treadmill, well, you run. If you can’t afford a “watyacallit-stair-machine,” then, hmmm…I wonder what Crown Regency will do to people who sneak in the building to use the stairs…
PHELPS’ BONG. Michael Phelps is currently serving a three-month suspension due to a momentary lapse in judgment.
Phelps was caught using a marijuana pipe, and worse, a photo of that act got plastered in the news. He has since apologized for the act.
After the 2004 Olympiad, Phelps figured in a similar embarrassing incident, getting caught for drunk driving.
I guess after all that time spent training for Olympic history, Phelps felt the need to let his hair down. Too bad he had to party this way.
FOOTBALL NEWS. If you want good news about football, I guess you better stop here. There isn’t any.
The coach of the Philippine men’s team, Juan Cutillas, has resigned, citing among other reasons, the loss of confidence in Philippine Football Federation Mari Martinez’s leadership.
In less than a year, we’ve had two coaches and nothing to show for it.
Cutillas’ resignation comes a few days after the whole women’s futsal team, which won the bronze in the Southeast Asian Games in 2007, quit.
The team members submitted their mass resignation after their coach, Emmanuel Batungbacal, was sacked by Martinez.
Martinez replaced Johnny Romualdez in 2007 and when he won, he boldly said he would quit his post if he can’t uplift Philippine football, or even make it the second-most popular sports in the country, in six months.
Well Mr. Martinez. It’s February 2009. Where’s your resignation?
Sounds impossible right?
Now imagine going through 86 stories in 10 minutes and 7 seconds, using the stairs.
Really impossible?
No. German runner slash climber Thomas Dold did just that in winning the Empire State Building Run Up this year.
What’s a Run Up? It’s just one of those crazy events where people race through the stairs of a really, really tall building.
Dold covered the 1,576 steps in 607 seconds, or an average of 2.5 steps per second, needing just 7.05 seconds to cover a floor! And that’s not even counting the steps he takes in between the flights of stairs! If his pace got slower going to the top, that means he must have rocketed past the first few stories to get that average.
If he was conquering the 38 floors of Crown Regency(at least that’s how tall the building is in my Internet research), he would need only 268.20 seconds. That’s just a shade under four minutes and 30 seconds.
What’s more amazing, his first place finish was 34 seconds off the record. According to Wikipedia, the record is held by Paul Crake, a professional cyclist. Well, that figures, if cyclists are crazy enough to pedal hundreds of miles, climbing 86 stories is nothing for them.
When I got wind of Dold’s achievement, I tried an experiment of my own. I wanted to know how fast I could get from the basement of Sun.Star’s building to the top.
So last Saturday night, when there were a few people at the office and most were busy at their desk, I did my run. I took two steps at a time and climbed the six flights in 28 seconds, then spent the next 10 minutes resting before hobbling down a floor to my desk.
I’m not so sure if a Run Up is a viable option for Cebu sports but I remember I once saw an infomercial on TV about a “watyacallit-stair-machine,” which was basically what a treadmill is for running long distances.
They say if you want to run but can’t afford a treadmill, well, you run. If you can’t afford a “watyacallit-stair-machine,” then, hmmm…I wonder what Crown Regency will do to people who sneak in the building to use the stairs…
PHELPS’ BONG. Michael Phelps is currently serving a three-month suspension due to a momentary lapse in judgment.
Phelps was caught using a marijuana pipe, and worse, a photo of that act got plastered in the news. He has since apologized for the act.
After the 2004 Olympiad, Phelps figured in a similar embarrassing incident, getting caught for drunk driving.
I guess after all that time spent training for Olympic history, Phelps felt the need to let his hair down. Too bad he had to party this way.
FOOTBALL NEWS. If you want good news about football, I guess you better stop here. There isn’t any.
The coach of the Philippine men’s team, Juan Cutillas, has resigned, citing among other reasons, the loss of confidence in Philippine Football Federation Mari Martinez’s leadership.
In less than a year, we’ve had two coaches and nothing to show for it.
Cutillas’ resignation comes a few days after the whole women’s futsal team, which won the bronze in the Southeast Asian Games in 2007, quit.
The team members submitted their mass resignation after their coach, Emmanuel Batungbacal, was sacked by Martinez.
Martinez replaced Johnny Romualdez in 2007 and when he won, he boldly said he would quit his post if he can’t uplift Philippine football, or even make it the second-most popular sports in the country, in six months.
Well Mr. Martinez. It’s February 2009. Where’s your resignation?
Comments