12 Hour Stair Climb Training

Week #1 

Workout: 1 Hour Stair Climb 
Goal: To stay at a nice comfortable pace I think I can manage for 12 hour, for 1 hour. 
Location: Springfield Hilton (32 floors)

There may be a few ways to approach training for this 12 hour climb. I am taking a similar approach of training for a marathon. Granted a marathon for myself is just under 3 hours and I understand this is a 12 hour attempt. Just like during marathon training the longest run most people do is 20-22 miles 3 weeks out from the race. I am slowly going to increase my long run or in this case "long climb" and have my longest climb be 8 hours or so 3 weeks out. I need to see how my body is going to react at this distance and time. I know my body is going to hit a wall at some point I just dont know when. During my long training climb I will be using the same fuel I will be using during the world record attempt. I will have to figure out my many calories I am burning every hour and replenish my fuel tank properly so I dont bonk or minimize the bonk so I can keep going because I cant afford to slow down at all too much over the course of the 12 hours.

*Elevator ride down was my only rest, usually took 1:20-1:40 minutes. During the event the elevator ride will only take 30-40 secs so I will be able to sneak in even more reps at this pace.

Splits:  4:19, 4:14, 4:15, 4:11, 4:11, 4:10, 4:10, 4:07, 4:07, 4:07 

10 reps in 1 hour
I felt under control, never felt tired, I stayed very consistent and loosened up as I went.


2 Hour Training Climb I did back in May 2013
Hour 1       Hour 2
4:03           3:59       
3:59           3:55
3:56           3:54
3:53           3:50
3:53           3:45
3:57           3:44
3:54           3:42
3:53           3:45
3:54           3:47
3:52           3:36
3:41           2:43
11 x's        11 x's

22 Times in 2 hours a nice comfortable pace. I have to average 9 times every hour for 12 hour in order to stay on pace for the world record.

12 Hour Stair Climb Record Attempt (Most Vertical Feet Stair Climbed in 12 Hours)

12 Hour Stair Climb Record Attempt
(Most Vertical Feet Stair Climbed  in 12 Hours)
Justin Stewart
26 years old
Springfield, IL

Current Record:
Chris Solarz

The greatest vertical height climbing stairs in 12 hours is 33,000 ft (10.06 km) by Chris Solarz (USA) climbing Three Logan Place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, on 25 June 2011. Solarz climbed the 600 ft (183 m) between floors 2-50 a total of 55 times, covering 58,080 stairs.
Solarz climbed enough to reach the peak of Mount Everest and still have nearly 4,000 ft (1.22 km) to spare. All distances are for ascents only, as participants are permitted to ride an elevator back to their starting point after completing a climb.

Record attempt will be held at the Springfield Hilton (32 floors) in downtown Springfield on November 23rd from 6am to 6pm. This record has been on my radar for about a year now and I have been planning out the event for the past few months. I got clearance back in April from Guinness World Records to go ahead with the attempt. I have everything set in place now for the event. I have also just completed my last recovery/down week and will begin training for the climb this week (Aug. 24th) I will basically treat my training as if I were working my way up to a marathon. Increasing my long runs of in this case climbs every other week. Making my longest climb, hopefully, 8 hours 3-4 weeks out from the climb. I wont go into too many details but I must maintain 8-9 complete climbs every hour for 12 hours. My current record is 13 times in one hour and 22 climbs in 2 hours. I will have no doubt in my mind that I can do this climb. Mentally and physically I know I can do it. I just have to make sure I fuel my body properly; if Im properly fueled then the physical part will be there. This will be a solo attempt at the record but if supporters want to climb some with me then that is awesome too. This is also a fundraiser for the American Lung Association. My donation fundraising page will be set up soon.