empire state building run-up: photos and results

just back from my second empire state building run-up. this time, with a 15:56 finish, i was a bit slower than my 15:35 in 2007. it was still a blast! the best part was wearing a singlet, and emerging on the roof as it was snowing!

here is my race report.

here are the official results at nyrr.

here are some photos.


ruth, giving a pre-race interview.


pre-race.


post-race: me, anna, and emmy.


post-race: anna, john, emmy, and me.


post-race: me and nina.



emmy and nina collecting their age-group awards. both emmy and nina were written-up in pre-race newspaper stories.

check out emmy's race recap and pictures.

empire state building run-up today!

this morning will interrupt my day at the office with a trip over to the empire state building for the 32nd annual run-up. it will be my second time at this unique event, following (inside, luckily) in the footsteps of that venerable super primate, king kong ;)

i'll post some pictures and a "climb" report late this afternoon. but this post is to highlight two separate newspaper stories profiling a pair of incredible women participants in today's run-up:

the wall street journal has this great story, the stair climber, on legendary nina kuscsik. she's lining up today for her 8th esbsru! my friends and i had the pleasure and honor of meeting her last spring, at the preview of the fred lebow documentary, "run for your life" at the tribeca film festival.

and, someone who needs little, if any, introduction to readers of this blog, ctmarathoner (a/k/a emmy) was profiled in yesterday's edition of "greenwich time" (thanks to john for the heads up on that story)! emmy is running her 7th esbru today!

here are some "fast facts" about the race at the empire building site.

here are my photos from the 2009 run-up!

happy groundhog day!

today, february 2 is groundhog day. despite all references to prognostication - good or bad - this day will, in my mind at least, be linked to one of bill murray's funniest movies, groundhog day, which sports the same name. it's not the funniest bill murray movie. imo, that honor (as hard as it is to choose from his long list of already classic comedies) goes to "what about bob?"

but getting back to the day at hand. unfortunately for us, punxsutawny phil likes to sleep late. when he does shake the sleep out of his eyes, i pray he doesn't see his shadow and forecast another 6 weeks of this already ridiculously unpleasant winter. ironically, we're in the midst of a mini two day heat wave. but phil should keep in mind another snowstorm is forecast for tomorrow :(

so keep those fingers crossed. i'll update this post as soon as phil's prognostication is reported :D
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update: well, the prognostication is bleak indeed. somehow punxsutawny phil managed to catch sight of his shadow. so we're due for 6 more nasty weeks of winter. baa humbug :(

here is the "official" pronouncement ;)

Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2009 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:Hear Ye Hear Ye

On Gobbler's Knob this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2009

Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators

Awoke to the call of President Bill Cooper

And greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths

After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,

Phil proclaimed that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers were World Champions one more time

And a bright sky above me

Showed my shadow beside me.

So 6 more weeks of winter it will be.

bruce springsteen's superbowl halftime show: video clips and setlist

with only 12 minutes and four songs at his disposal, bruce springsteen took the stage in tampa and rocked the halftime show at superbowl XVIII - with his own ref to throw a delay of game flag to end his performance ;)

here is the setlist:

tenth avenue freezeout
born to run
working on a dream
glory days

while what 3 of the songs would be lead to a lot of speculation, "working on a dream" - the title cut to his new album, was a sure bet :D

here is the entire 12 minute performance, in two parts, courtesy of youtube!





oh, and for the record, the steelers beat arizona 27-23 to become the first team to win the superbowl 6 times!!
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i didn't have the energy to add this last night, but the ny times ran an interesting story on springsteen, "the rock laureate," in the sunday arts and leisure section. here is what bruce said about his prep for the halftime show:

"Party or not, Mr. Springsteen has thought through his Super Bowl set meticulously. “It was very challenging to try and get that exact 12 minutes. I found that in a funny way it was very freeing. O.K., these are your boundaries, so put everything that you have into just this box,” he said. “If you do it right, you should feel the tension of it wanting to spread beyond that time frame. But it can’t.”
. . .

"At rehearsal he strutted across the stage: testing banter, brandishing his guitar, belting lyrics and jiving with Mr. Van Zandt. As the band finished a run-through, someone holding a timer called out the length of the set. “We’ve got one-sixteenth of a second left,” Mr. Springsteen exulted. “And we plan to use it.”"

the ny times followed up that overly effusive and glowing look at springsteen with a rather lame review of the actual show this morning (in the sports section).

2008 new york ultrarunning grand prix awards brunch

last year i couldn't make the 2007 awards brunch because i was on a business trip to india. as it turned out, richie presented emmy and me with our grand prix awards in may, at the long island greenbelt trail 50k! this time around there was no business travel - but, we did stop in central park for the gridiron classic 4 miler before the awards brunch at the greater long island road runners club house in plainview.

the overall grand prix series winners were byron and emmy!!

congratulations to them both :D

for the second year in a row, i won my age group.

here are the final 2008 grand prix standings posted at new york ultrarunning.


richie and me.


phil. he took 2nd place overall this year. last year phil won the series.


emmy, presenting richie with her gridiron classic tee shirt.

and, here is the official pose :D

nick, emmy, and grant (first m55-59).

emmy (w/small snack for the drive home) and rob :D

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in addition to the grand prix series awards, byron, frank and nick were inducted to the broadway ultra society hall of fame this summer.

the 2009 grand prix series kicks off with the caumsett state park 50K on march 1st.

gridiron classic 4 miler: race photos and results

great morning for a race! with the temperature on the first day of february above freezing for the first time in weeks, it almost seemed like january was some sort of bad dream. even so, there was plenty of ice all over the park to remind us of the weather what was, and what it will return to in a few days. take the good days when you get them :D

ran a 26:43, 6:40 pace. will write up a short race report later today. after the race, drove over to long island for the new york ultrarunning award brunch.

here are the official results from nyrr.

here are some photos:






emmy and sharon, 3rd and 2nd, respectively in their age group. nice follow-up to the manhattan half were sharon and emmy took 1st and 2nd, respectively!

go arizona cardinals!!

yes, it's superbowl sunday and the improbable happened - the arizona cardinals find themselves the cinderella team representing the nfc! but, just as improbable, i find myself rooting for them to go all the way and win it tonight. if it was any other nfc team (except, of course, dreaded giant rivals dallas, philly or washington - i'm truly that insane) - i'd probably cheer for the steelers.

but, aside from being undisputed underdogs - and i love underdogs - the cards have a couple of other things going for them. technically, i still haven't gotten over that they are no longer card carrying members of the nfc east! my entire football life frames them as part of the nfc east. now, since, 2001, every time i see a standing chart in the newspaper, i can't help but think it's just a lame typo ;)

the most important reason, however, is they did all of new york at tremendous favor and knocked off philly in the championship game! for one teeny weeny reason alone i'm indebted to the cards and, hence, find it impossible to root against them. if philly had made it to the superbowl after wiping up the meadowlands with the giants last month - regardless of whether the committed an even greater sacrilege and won the superbowl - it would have been a even brutally colder winter and endlessly painful off season :D

so arizona, thanks so much for easing the pain of the giants self-destruction a little. and here's to you guys going all the way tonight! woo hoo!!

but, before settling in for the actual game tonight, i'll head down to central park for the gridiron 4 miler this morning. and, then a trip over to long island for the new york ultrarunning awards brunch.