Dold and Walsham Repeat as Champions at the NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up
Posted Tuesday, 3 February, 2009
New York, February 3, 2009—Thomas Dold of Germany and Suzy Walsham of Australia defended their titles today at the 32nd annual NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up. Dold, a 24-year-old university student from Stuttgart, Germany, led from wire to wire to capture his fourth-straight victory in 10:07. Walsham, 35, who lives in Singapore, overcame a fall at the start to take the lead late in the race; her winning time was 13:27.
Marco De Gasperi of Italy (10:29) was the men’s runner-up; Rickey Gates of Colorado (10:40)
placed third. The women’s runner-up was Daniela Vassalli of Italy (13:40), and four-time champion Cindy Harris of Indiana (13:49) placed took third.
Dold’s time was the fastest of his four victories here, in part because he secured a smooth passage into the stairwell from the starting line in the lobby of New York’s tallest building. “I entered the stairway first,” said Dold, whose time was one second faster than his 2008 clocking. “I trained to win, but sometimes training is not enough—you have to have some luck, and I did today.”
Walsham wasn’t quite as lucky in the women’s race, staged separately. A collision just before the stairwell entrance sent her slamming into the marble wall, then crashing to the ground. She got to her feet behind several women. “I was in pain—and shock,” Walsham said. “But then I said, well, I didn’t come all this way to pull out, so I’ll just concentrate on passing the women in front of me.” Walsham crossed the finish line in obvious distress and received immediate medical attention for her swollen nose, lip, and left knee. She later recovered enough to greet the media and her fans and to accept her champion’s trophy—carried to the awards stage by Dold.
“This is such a special win for me,” said Dold, who is one victory shy of tying five-time winners Al Waquie (1983-87) and Paul Crake (1999-2003) for the greatest number of Run-Up titles. “You have to train a lot to get a victory like this, and it gets harder every year—lots of guys want it.”
A total of 249 runners finished the 2009 NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up, an invitational event that has been on NYRR’s annual calendar since 1978.
Complete results are available at www.nyrr.org
MORE QUOTES
Thomas Dold:
“I wanted to do better than last year—I did a lot of stairs to prepare.”
“I raced conservatively—I trained a lot because I wanted the victory and I wanted to beat my time, so I was very fit.”
“It’s really cool to show what you’ve done, all the hard work. I give 100%--I’m so tired at the end.”
“It’s so cool at the end to look down at what you’ve done.”
“The start—every year it’s getting harder, because a few guys really want to win. It’s like car racing—you have to get in a good position.”
“I train—that’s my advantage. It’s not easy to have good training in the winter, especially this year, it’s been very cold.”
“During the race, I don’t think. I have to get in the best position at the start, then just go as fast as I can, then pass the women starting at about floor 40. You can’t think about anything else.”
“The pain is just for a few minutes and the victory is for years and years.”
“I’m really glad that I’ve done it again this year. Next year? There are 364 days until next year to think about that.”
Suzy Walsham:
“It was a very pushy start, I was aiming at the door and I got side-swiped and face-planted into the concrete, then I fell and somehow some of the girls picked me up and shoved me through the door. I said to myself, I’m in pain, what should I do, do I stop or keep going. I decided I didn’t come all this way to just not run it, but it was hard, I was in pain and worried about my nose, that it was broken. I passed some women and I knew one was still in front of me so I just concentrated on that. I took the lead with about 20 floors to go. It made the race go by very quickly because I was just concentrating on that. At the finish, I was just so happy it was over and I could get some help.”
Mary Wittenberg:
“Today we have two New York City institutions that work together to help people really fall in love with this city and have the workout of a lifetime! Only you can point to the top of this building and say, I ran up it.”
“It’s always intense at the front—we have incredible athletes who are runners, mountain runners, cyclists, and our defending champs who came back and took the crowns once again. At NYRR, the safety of our runners is our first concern. At this race, our athletes know the very unique challenges. We’re really sorry that Suzy today got a little banged up at the start and we are following up with her. It’s an unbelievable testament to our champion that where many might have just put the race aside, Suzy went ahead and not only ran, but won the race. We’re all that much in greater awe of her.”
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