AON Chicago Tower Stair Climb Records

AON Tower
Chicago, IL
80 floors
 
  

Year	Name	Time
2003	Terry Purcell	10:02
2004	Nic Aubert	10:42
2005	Terry Purcell	09:49
2006	Terry Purcell	09:46
2007	?	?
2008	Terry Purcell	09:28
2009	Terry Purcell	09:26
2010	Eric Leninger	09:54
2011	Jesse Berg	09:56
2012	Justin Stewart	09:35
2013	Sproule Love	09:24

2013 Bop to the Top

2013 Bop to the Top
One America Building (36 floors) Indianapolis, IN

1st Place Single Climb 3:30
1st Place Triple Climb 12:11 (4:10, 4:04, 3:56)
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This was only the second time racing up the One America Building in Indy but it is slowly becoming one of my favorites.  Its a nice little sprint climb where I can leave Friday night after work and drive to one of my friends places there in downtown Indy only 2 blocks away from the tower.  I usually crash on the couch and wake up early to jog down the street just as the sun is coming up.

Night before its always good to hangout with college buddies you havent seen in a while. That night we were watching the second segment of Lance Armstrongs interview and I ended up staying up later than I probably needed or wanted to.  I ended up sleeping alright and woke up around 5:30 a.m. and ate my usual breakfast which is...if you were wondering (bagel or toast with crunchy peanut butter and sliced bananas, dry cereal or oatmeal with almonds, a couple kiwis, handful of spinach, and water).  I always eat 3 hours before my race no matter what it is; a 5k, marathon, or stair climb, it doesnt matter, for some reason my body needs that 3 hours in order not to get a side ache.  Not just in races but also in training runs I need that 3 hours for my food to digest or else I will get a side ache and it will aggravated my side for a couple days if I try to push through it. Weird I know, but thats what works for me. Anyway, after I ate I did an active warm up stretch in the living room to warm up the body.

Race Day
Around 6:45 am I started to get ready to head downtown. Nice light jog to the building which ended up being just shy of a mile. Found a spot to put my gear. Wondered around for a little bit, tried to get into the staircase but got stopped by security. I couldnt quite remember what the stairwell looked like from last year so I tried to see and I even used my best persuasive skills with the security guard but he took his job very seriously. Headed outside for a warm up run and found a parking garage across the street with a nice staircase that was about 9 floors. Ran around the garage and stairs for about 10-15 minutes and headed back into the building to stretch.
This race is unique in that it has two staircases to choose from that you can race up. Both staircases are equal in every aspect. I chose staircase A to go up in. Did some last minute drills to get the HR where it needed to be, shook some hands and it was time to go. I was first to go up...
Since this is a true sprint climb (36 floors) I went after pretty quick from the get go, a nice uptempo pace that was flirting with the red line but staying under control. I remember feeling it around floor 24 but knew I had to keep pushing. I always tell myself you can hurt tomorrow but not right now to point of slowing down. 10 floors to go an I knew I could have gone out a little slower in order to have a little more at the top for a kick. Got to the top and remember to stop my watch...3:30. It was a PR and another step closer to that crazy record of 3:20 set way back in 1989; which by the way I was only 2 years old then, lol.
But I wasnt done with just the single climb...got on the elevator and headed back down to the registration table to grab my triple climb bib #.  In about 30 minutes I would head back up again. I am still trying to figure out what the best method would be rest wise for the triple climb. I took close to 30 minutes between climbs, but Im starting to think maybe 7 minutes between climbs might be beneficial next year because after 7 minutes your blood starts to cool back down after exertion. Felt good on the triple and actually got faster as I went and even going under 4 on my last one.

 Here is a video I put together of the race this year.

Also, check out this list of top times over the past 30 years of this event.

Course Record-1992-Brian McCauliff 3:20

Year	Name	Time
1984	Mark Carlson	04:05
1985	Jeff Price	04:00
1986	Joe Kenny	03:51
1987	Joe Kenny	03:50
1988	Joe Kenny	03:45
1989	Brian McCauliff/Joe Kenny	03:50
1990	Joe Kenny	03:47
1991	Brian McCauliff	03:32
1992	Brian McCauliff	03:20
1993	Marty Wilkey	03:34
1994	Marty Wilkey	03:40
1995	Bob Curts	03:48
1996	Marty Wilkey	03:35
1997	Marty Wilkey	03:47
1998	Bob Curts	03:51
1999	Marty Wilkey	03:53
2000	Marty Wilkey	03:47
2001	Bob Curts	03:46
2002	Marty Wilkey	03:43
2003	Marty Wilkey	03:48
2004	Marty Wilkey	03:53
2005	Marty Wilkey	03:55
2006	Dave Shafron	03:56
2007	Marty Wilkey	03:58
2008	Marty Wilkey	04:03
2009	Dave Shafron	03:52
2010	Marty Wilkey	03:53
2011	Marty Wilkey	03:55
2012	Justin Stewart	03:39
2013	Justin Stewart	03:30

As you can see the Bop to the Top race has a pretty long history of fast times. I didnt know of these times until this year. Finding out the course record was a huge surprise to me. Knocking off another 10 seconds from my best PR at the One America tower seems really hard to do but it might be doable within the next couple years of training, always something to shoot for. I caught a brief history of Brian McCauliff's record setting race from another past champion of this race, Joe Kenny who won back in 1986-1990. He says Brian was a slave to the steps. He would spend at least 5 out of 7 days of the week in the staircase, he ate right, and was in bed by 8pm every night, and did all the little things.
I first did this race in 2012 and I think I will continue to do this race until I get that course record.

Eastern Illinois Graduate Takes the Stairs

I'll Take the Stairs
EIU grad among the world's leaders in competitive stair climbing
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6/27/2012

Despite spending his college years in a county where the tallest building is EIU's Stevenson Hall, Justin Stewart '11 is now one of the highest-ranked competitive stair-climber in the world.
So far in 2012, his first full year of racing, he has placed first in nine races (including Chicago's Hustle Up the Hancock and the 180-floor Presidential Towers event, where he set a new course record) and also took a respectable 17th-place finish in the Empire State Building Run Up.
If Stewart is still among the world's top three stair-climbers in August, he'll earn an all-expenses-paid trip to Columbia for the World Cup Championships.
- See more at: http://www.eiu.edu/eiu360/story.php?id=14808#sthash.BxaKEvpZ.dpuf

It has now been almost 2 years since I walked off the campus of EIU in Charleston Illinois and headed into the real world. It has been quite the journey since then, especially athletically.  After my 2012 win at the Hustle Up the Hancock Tower in Chicago IL I got some press time and my efforts even caught the eyes of those at good ole EIU. Here is a nice short article that was on the school website. Check out the link.

I'll Take the Stairs

EIU grad among the world's leaders in competitive stair climbing

- See more at: http://www.eiu.edu/eiu360/story.php?id=14808#sthash.BxaKEvpZ.dpuf

I'll Take the Stairs

EIU grad among the world's leaders in competitive stair climbing

- See more at: http://www.eiu.edu/eiu360/story.php?id=14808#sthash.BxaKEvpZ.dpuf

http://www.eiu.edu/eiu360/story.php?id=14808

2013 Indoor Track Season

2013 Indoor Track Season

1/12/2013 University of Illinois Open Meet
800 meters
3rd Place 
Time: 1:56.1

Race Recap: My training heading into this race has only been 10-15 miles of easy running along with my stair climbing training which is a mixture of stair climbing, cycling, lots of core and abs, Jacobs Ladder which is a high intensity climbing machine. The combination of this type of training is great for a short race like the 800m.
I went into this race pretty confident. I checked out previous years results and I figured I could put together a 1:57 at least which would keep me somewhat competitive. Got there and found out I was slowest seed time in a heat of 6, which doesnt mean anything but still it meant I was in a heat that was quick.  Got out in 4the place. 1st and 2nd were a few feet ahead, while I was off the right shoulder of the 3rd place guy for 3 laps.  I went through the 200 in 26 high, 400 in 56 low, 1:25 low. The 3rd place guy and I started closing in on the front two with 100m to go. On the final stretched I made a charge and got 3rd. Felt really strong, never really faded or hit a huge wall. 
___________________________________________________________________________________
2/2/2013 Illinois College Open Meet
800 meters
1st Place
Time: 1:57.1

Race Recap: This meet turned out to be a timing disaster. The meet was crawling along and I ended up warming up way too early and found myself warming up and re-warming up, and sitting around getting frustrated just watching the meet officials poke around getting the heats lined up and so on. Watched the womens 800 start and it was a waterfall start with 14 racers. I thought this was ridiculous and was going to be pissed if they started the guys heat like that...which they did. I was the 3rd one on the line in lane 2. Got my elbow out and got out hard. Two other guys ended up rounding the curve and flying by me into the back stretch and immediately slowed down. This if you do not know is my pet peeve in the 800m, and they ended up running 2:04's.  Anyway, I was stuck behind these two guys until the 200m mark and I found a gap and went for it. After that I gaped the field for 3 laps. In the last 100m a Principia runner made a good push and we finished neck and neck.  Overall, considering how my warm up went and the iffy start of the race Im happy with this effort.

Here is a video of the race at IC...





Ever since I graduated from Eastern Illinois University where I was a middle distance guy, I have done a few short indoor track races per season. It becomes harder and harder every year working in the real world to find time to train at a level that I was at in college. Yet my stair climbing training has created a type of training that preps me pretty well for short intense races like the 800. Anything longer would be stretching it and Id probably have to put in more miles.  I'll probably run a couple outdoor races as well so until then Ill keep on training for the stair climbing season and transition into the summer running season.

Trail Runner Magazine Uphill Challenge: Justin Stewart 1.58 miles

Trail Runner Magazine Uphill Challenge: Justin Stewart 1.58 miles

Every year at the Outdoor Retail Summer Market, a trade show for the outdoor industry, Trail Runner magazine hosts an Uphill Challenge. In each heat of the Uphill Challenge, two participants square off next to one another treadmills set to a 15% grade on which they run as far as they can in 15 minutes by controlling the speed. Not only do participants try to win their heat, but they also try to be named King or Queen of the Mountain by running further than any other competitor of their gender. Typically, the last two pairings feature showdowns between two top women and, then, two top men. This year was no different with Brandy Erholtz racing Anna Frost in the women’s finale before Philipp Reiter took on Max King in the day’s final race. In the end, Erholtz and King were the Queen and King of the Mountain.

 I heard about this challenge from a friend of mine on Facebook. Once I heard about it I put it on my schedule to try out. Since I have the US Mountain Running Championships, hopefully Mt. Washington, and the Pikes Peak Ascent 1/2 Marathon this summer I have been ramping up my mileage slowly and incorporating alot more trails/stairs/incline treadmill workouts into my plan. I have started with a pretty good base which Im finishing up here soon after the stair climbing season comes to an end. Since I live and train in central Illinois amongst the flat lands and cornfields I have to be creative in my training. So this treadmill challenge was a good benchmark workout to see where I am at in comparison to some of the nations and even the world best trail/mountain runners. Its a test with a set time and incline so you can measure yourself accurately against others. I unfortunately am not able to make it to the annual event where runner pair off in a head to head battle on the treadmill but I did my own test to where I would have landed in the 2012 challenge in Utah.

This was my debut at this challenge and from looking at other runners distances I set a goal in my mind, which was 1.5 miles. Pretty lofty but I thought it was doable. Highly esteemed runners like Max King who has won numerous nation and world titles won the challenge in 2012 with a distance of 1.65, 2nd was Luke Nelson of the Patagonia team in 1.51, 3rd was Anton Krupicka of team New Balance with a 1.50. In my test I went 1.58 miles, which would have placed me 2nd against some very decorated and experienced mountain and trail runners. Given my training situation and where I am geographically I do not have mountains to train on so this test for me is very reassuring in terms of my vertical fitness. It seems the more vertical a race is the better I am at it.

I will take this challenge/test and build on it. I will have this as a benchmark workout every week and half or two to see if I have improved. I havent trained the muscles it takes to run vertical (excluding stairs) as much as I would have liked quite yet, so the more vertical running specific workouts and runs I do the better this test result will hopefully be. Next time I will pace myself a little better and not go out so fast.

Check out the video...I know this isnt a 15 minute long video to accurately show I went the whole 15 minutes, but I would cheat or lie about this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YumTn_cLA_Q

 

2012 Quad Cities Marathon

2012 Quad Cities Marathon (September 23rd)




20th Place Male
28th Place Overall
8th Place in Age Group
3:01:27

Sunny, calm, 42 degrees at race time, got up into the mid to upper 50's by race end.

My first ever marathon didnt quite go as to plan but overall I cant be upset because I used it as a learning experience.  I knew what I wanted to do and did what I thought I was capable of doing but in the end the second race of the marathon came and bit me is the you know what.  I knew the last 4-6 miles were going to hurt and people told me about it and I could picture it but until I experienced it myself I couldn't believe it or feel what it truly felt like.  Mentally I wanted to finish and push it in and stay on the great pace I set prior but physically for mile 23-26 I couldnt move my legs any faster than a trot.  So hard to deal with, I have never walked in a race in my entire 15 years of running, but I did a little bit for mile 23 where I avgeraged a 12:17 mile.  All Icould do was look at my watch and watch my awesome pace be shot to hell in a matter of a 4 miles of the 26.2.  But thats the marathon for ya.  As I look back on my training yes there are things I would do differently, Im not going to go into detail but I now know I would do a few things differently.  Theres really no way you can prepare for that 4 miles of the marathon in your training than to just stick to a pace you know you can handle and save up for that last 4 miles whether you think you feel great early on or not.
The week of the marathon I think I ate great.  I probably could have used a little more sleep but due to my jobs I did what I could.  Pre race, and I knew this going in, I didnt sleep well the night before but I did two nights out.  I woke up what felt like every hour and when I did I took a drink of water. Woke up and ate at 4:15am, headed out to the race at 5, went for a 30 min walk down the Mississippi River, went to a nearby hotel and chilled in the lobby to stay warm, stretched took my 5 hour energy and continued to hydrate a little.  30minutes out from the race I jogged around the parking lot where I could still here the annoucments.  Got my warmups off and went to the start.  I was two rows back from the elite starters.  Cannon went off and I was underway.  1/2 mile in looked at my GPS and saw 6:09 pace, too fast but it was so hard not to. It felt so easy but I knew my pace was 6:30-45.  The first 8.5 miles the half marathoners and full racers were all together so it was hard to tell who was in what race.  I chatted it up with a few people just to pass the time.  At 8.5 miles the half marathoners turned off and I found myself in 15th place overall.  Went through the 13.1 in 1:24:51, perfect, I was happy with a 2:50.  Stayed at 6:30 pace for a few more miles then I got the bright idea to keep pushing. Dipped down to 6:20 miles and was feeling great.  This one guy and I were cruisin together. Mile 20 I saw my parents and gave them the thumbs up saying I feel great.  I knew all I had left was a 3 mile out and 3 miles back.  Started feeling it on mile 22 when I fell off a little bit and ran a 6:43 mile. I thought OK Im starting to feel it I just slow down a bit and keep it here.  Next mile really started to feel it with a 7:56 mile. Then I thought here it comes. I knew I was in trouble. Mile 24 was a killer and a new level of metal toughness I came into contact with.  Mile 24 was a brutal 12:17, where it was a mix of walking/trotting/and tying up.  Miles 25 and 26 I found somewhat of a second wind and rolled in to the finish.
Great weekend, great race, talked to and met a few new people during the run, had a great experience in my first marathon.  Very eye opening and I learned alot about myself and the marathon race in general.  Whats next...a little down time and then some stairs. Maybe Boston in a couple years, or Quad Cities next year, or possibly Indy next October, but for now Im going to enjoy some downtime.



Splits:
10k 40:09(6:28 pace), 1/2 1:24:51(6:29 pace), 20mile 2:08:35(6:26 pace), Last 10k 52:53(8:30 pace)
6:09,6:19,6:30,6:22,6:25,6:29,6:26,6:24,6:24,6:27,6:27,6:28,6:24,6:24,6:17,6:20,6:17,6:13,6:12,6:18,6:10,6:43,7:56,12:17,9:10,8:06,3:00

Track Workouts with Justin Stewart

Here are three of my track workouts I have done in the past few weeks. Stair climbing season has come to an end for me and now begins the cycling/running season. I am a runner first and foremost but this summer I am focusing on cycling so I can build my legs up for the fall when the stair climbing season kicks back up. Yet this does not mean I totally neglect the running aspect of my training. Stair climbing throughout the winter has created a huge base for me so that I can pop off great track workouts like I have been here lately. So here are a few samples of my speed workouts I have done here lately.  Check em out... Workout #1 on Tuesday March 27th, 2012 Workout: 400, 4x200, 400 @85%, 4 min. rest b/w 400 and 200's, 2 min. b/w 200's.   Splits: 58, 29, 28, 29, 28, 56 Im running the 800 this weekend at the Big Blue Open at Eastern Illinois University.  Thought Id try my favorite 800m workout to see where I stand.  Kind of surprised myself tonight on how much foot speed I still have without doing much running or speed work.  I guess the cross training/stairs/cycling keeps the legs well tuned an strong.  Felt pretty good, not as smooth as a year or two ago but still quick.     Workout #2 Wednesday April 18th, 2012 4 x 200m backwards running Splits: 34.8, 34.7, 34.9, 35.9 I was trying to see how close I am to the 200m backward running World Record.  Just ended up doing 4x200's.  Felt pretty fast surprisingly. Im a good 2 seconds off the WR in the 200.  I will try some 400's next week or so and maybe an 800. Getting a WR in a backwards running event is one of my long term goals.     Workout #3 Wednesday May 2nd, 2012 Workout: 4 x (400/200) w/ 2min rest b/w intervals and 3min. rest b/w sets I just kind of threw this workout together as I was doing it. I ran a solid 400 and then decided to run a 200 and so on, cam together nicely though for a great workout.  I was in trainer the first two sets then I put on spikes for the last two.  It was pretty windy going into the homestretch as well. Since I kind of threw the wokout together as I went I didnt have any set times I wanted to hit. I hit 60 seconds for the first 400 and felt good then I hit 30 for the 200 so I decided to see if I could keep that pace for the rest of he workout which I did to a T and even a little faster on the last set.  For the mileage I have been puttin here lately Im very happy with this effort. I am just doing a speed workout every other week to maintain speed and so I can pop off another good 800 or mile coming up here in a couple weeks. Splits:   60, 30         60, 29        60, 28       58, 27 Overall Thoughts The past couple months of training have, in my opinion, been some of the best weeks of training I have every had. I feel amazingly fit and quick of little miles 10-15 at most, running wise. I have completed two cycling races already this summer and have finished in the top 5 in both races, and I am still trying to learn the sport of cycling. I have also ran a solid 1:56.4 in the 800m.  A couple weeks ago I felt like my body was dragging a little bit and thought maybe I need some downtime since it has been a long haul of training since last year. But I think my training right now is low miles but high intensity; so I think I can keep this up until the end of May and take a couple down weeks and then kick back up.  That way I dont lose all that I have gained. Im taking one day at a time right now and training as I feel that day, which is a good place to be right now.