If you live in a home with lots of stairs, count your blessings.
Brian Kuritzky took 13.37 minutes to ascend the 102 story Empire State Building with 1,576 stairs. It's a new competition that's attracting interest, the vertical marathon.
He also competed in The Iron Man triathlon with a time of 16 hours, but he finds stair climbing equally challenging. He trained for the stair ascent just as hard. "A skyscraper run is an enticing thing to see how far you can push yourself."
Stair climbing is a great workout for the lower extremity and the cardio-respiratory system, and perfect preparation for sports like soccer and rugby.
Kuritzky is looking forward to other competitions like a run up the 163 story Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper. Also there have been competitions at Chicago's John Hancock Building, and the CN tower in Toronto allows people to take the stairs for a good workout.
Three cheers for stairs! For many with a rather sedentary lifestyle, stairs may offer a timely workout.
