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Australian Woman Wins Empire State Building Run-Up Record 6th Time

Australian Suzy Walsham won the women’s race at the Empire State Building Run-Up Wednesday night in New York for a record sixth time. Walsham took 12:30 to run the 1,576 steps to the outdoor finish on the 86th-floor observatory deck.

Germany’s Christian Riedel was the men’s winner in 10:13. The victory was Riedel’s first at the event. Last year’s winner, Thorbjorn Ludvigsen of Norway, finished second, 3 seconds behind Riedel.

For the first time since its creation in 1978, the Run-Up wasn’t organized by the New York Road Runners, with the building’s owner, Empire State Realty Trust, contracting another New York City race organizer, NYCRUNS, to put on the race.

Another change this year was that the field was significantly smaller, with 195 finishers compared to 415 in 2014. According to Steve Lastoe of NYCRUNS, participants and workers from previous editions said the smaller field was preferable given the cramped running room in the building’s stairwells.

If Walsham wins in 2016, she’ll match Thomas Dold of Germany, who has won the men’s race a record seven times.

The video below shows a time-lapse runner’s view of the 2012 race.

 

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