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Blog Entry 260 of 623 What's Going On
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In case of lungs on fire, take stairs

Contributed by: Brendan Leonard/YourHub.com   on 2/26/2007

If you ever wondered, the air in the stairwell of the Wells Fargo "Cash Register" building in downtown Denver is really dry. I noticed this about five minutes into the second annual Run the Register, which climbs all 47 floors of 1,014 stairs in the building to raise money for the American Lung Association of Colorado. At that point, I was wondering how I was going to die in that nondescript stairwell: A heart attack seemed very likely by the time I was on the 20th floor. So did my lungs exploding.

And we pay an entry fee so they'll let us do this to ourselves.

I had convinced Colorado School of Mines Geophysics graduate student Kurt Wikel ("I've been running up Lookout Mountain carrying milk jugs to prepare for this") and Colorado Ski Country USA communications coordinator Nick Bohnenkamp to "ride the pain train" with me on Feb. 25, by saying things like "it's a good cause" and "pain is clarifying." They did not complain, and Nick beat both me and Kurt. I beat Kurt by two seconds, but at the top, I found out he actually stopped for water twice on the way up.

We all finished in a little more than nine minutes, far behind the winning 5 minute, 23 second time, of Rickey Gates, of Boulder, who is obviously an incredible athlete and quite likely insane. The women's division winner, Kristin Moreau, of Golden, clocked a time of 7:39.

Cindy Liverance, vice president of programs for the American Lung Association of Colorado, later told me the event was expected to raise $200,000 this year, up from last year's $124,000.

"We're absolutely as pleased as can be with the way the day went," she said.

This year's race had 1,445 finishers compared to last year's 1,050. Among them were some guy who decided to do it in telemark ski boots, who we saw in the lobby after he finished, a woman in high heels (according to Cindy), 90-year old Ida Wall, of Brighton (who finished in 47 minutes, 49 seconds and won the 90- to 98-year-old age division), and two ladies with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, one of whom I passed on my way up. I thought she was just carrying the 10-pound oxygen tank up the stairs to raise awareness of COPD. I didn't know she had it.

I'll be back next year to see if my lungs can suck in enough air to improve on my 222nd-place finish. If nothing else, every time I drive by the cash register building with a new person, I can say, "See that building? I can get up there in about nine minutes."


Top 5 men's finishers
Rickey Gates, 25, Boulder - 5:23
Micah Martin, 27, Denver - 5:56
Scott Hackett, 41, Lakewood - 6:03
Kirk Framke, 33, Denver - 6:05
Justin Little, 32, Denver - 6:14

Top 5 women's finishers
Kristin Moreau, 39, Golden - 7:39
Caitlin Hedberg, 24, Denver - 8:01
Darcy Williams, 28, Littleton - 8:04
Sheri Mounteer, 36, Denver - 8:06
Cassi Wilbanks, 22, Littleton - 8:11

Team winner
Denver Trail Runners
Total time: 34:51
Average time: 6:59

SOURCE: BKB Limited

Full results are available via www.runtheregister.com.


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Showing 1-10 of 10 comments
Submitted By: Robert White
posted on 3/3/2007 @ 11:25:34 PM
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I notice that age doesn't seem to have much to do with it until you pass 40.
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Submitted By: John Brandstetter
posted on 3/1/2007 @ 2:28:25 PM
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I know, I know. Next year, I'll be right there with you.
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Submitted By: John Brandstetter
posted on 3/1/2007 @ 2:27:39 PM
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I'll follow the advice of Homer Simpson: "The winner will be showered with praise. The loser will be taunted and booed until my throat is sore." You were 222 out of 1,445, which means you get a combination of the two: You did really, really great, except for the part where you sucked.
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Submitted By: Laura Mayo
posted on 2/27/2007 @ 3:29:35 PM
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I think by the fourth floor I'd be puking. That's great that you made it, though.
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Submitted By: Charmaine Robledo
posted on 2/27/2007 @ 2:04:50 PM
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