2019 US Bank Center Milwaukee Stair Climb

2019 US Bank Center Milwaukee Stair Climb for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
47 Floors 981 steps
1st Overall 4:57 

US Bank Center, Milwaukee WI

The US Bank Center is the tallest building in Milwaukee and stands at 601' at 42 floors tall. The race however starts 5 floors down in the bowels of the building which makes the climb itself 47 floors. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation event is the second event of the year in this building. The American Lung Association hosts an event in March. The CF climb is set on a rare Thursday night with a 6pm start time.

Its been 8 years since Ive done this event. The last time I was here I clocked a course record 4:50. Since it's more or less my off season from running that means I'm typically in the stairs training. Its been a few years since I've strung together a "stair climbing season" though. Since I'm jumping back in the stair climbing game I figured I'd better get some racing under my belt. Not being able to go up to Chicago's Willis climb the previous week I was itching for a climb. I was off work that Thursday and decided to make the 4+ hour drive to Milwaukee. Got up to Milwaukee just as the sun was setting, found the building, checked in, got one warm up climb in and by that time is was time to go outside for a jog. Mile out and back with Hal and Bridget Carlson. Got back kind of pressed for time. Rushed through some warm up drills in a hallway. Waited till 6:10 to head down to the basement to the start line. Its quite a maze to get down to the start. Got down there and it was just Mark and KC warming up. Where is everybody. Its a 6:10 elite wave start. A few minutes later the entire wave came down and we were off.

I was first in the stairwell. Ahhh i remember now what this felt like. 47 floors is a weird distance for pacing. Its not a 32 floor running sprint like the Hilton in Springfield and its no uptempo speed walking power hike of the Willis. I basically tried to settle into a fast tempo on the short flights with a slightly slower turn on the landings. Floors 17-30 are carpet, yes carpet. So that slowed things down a bit. Here I switched to a fast paced power hike really pulling on the railing. Its hard to stay fast on carpet in my opinion. I couldn't pivot my foot on the landing like I can on metal or concrete. At 30 I tried to go back to a quicker climbing technique but if you've ever done a stair climb you know how it goes. I just started to fight tooth and nail anyway possible to just keep moving forward and up. By 38 its practically over with. Fought a couple more flights and finished on floor 42. Stopped my watch at 4:59 after stumbling across the timing mats. I remembered from 2011 and hearing from

Results Top 5 Men/Women

others in years past about the timing issues so I remembered my watch and to actually start and stop it just in case. Then just as I remembered as I was walking the observation deck around the top floor the hacking set in. This stairwell in my opinion is the worst for some reason. As I type this up 5 days later Im still fighting throat issues. No wonder I haven't been back in 8 years. None the less it was a fun climb. About the same as I remember 8 years ago but I don't remember it hurting that much. In 2011 I was probably in the best stair climbing of my life. So the fact that I was only 7 seconds of my PR i couldn't be too upset about. Its good to be back in the stairwell and see all the familiar faces. Next up, probably Bop to the Top in Indianapolis then AON Chicago the week after. Congrats to altho who raced and raced money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Its always a good thing doing something you love for a good cause.

Results: http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=70952#racetop

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2865592798