DOLD, MOON WIN EMPIRE STATE BUILDING RUN-UP
By David Monti
(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved (Used by permission)

NEW YORK (09-Feb) -- Thomas Dold of Germany and Melissa Moon of New Zealand won the 35th edition of the Empire State Building Run-Up here last night. This was the first time the race was held at night, and athletes were greeted by a moderate snow squall when they emerged into the cold air outside on the 86th floor observation deck of this city's tallest building.

Dold, 27, from Stuttgart, won the race for a record seventh time. He climbed the 1576 steps in 10 minutes and 28 seconds, eight seconds ahead of Christian Riedl, a 31 year-old German from Erlangen. Third place went to Mark Bourne, a 38 year-old Australian from Canberra, in 10:55. Former Australian road running star, Darren Wilson of Adelaide, finished fourth.

Dold is now holds more Run-Up victories than anyone, but did not come close to the event record of 9 minutes and 33 seconds set by Australia's Paul Crake in 2003. Crake, a five-time winner of the event, was paralyzed in 2006 after a cycling accident.

In the women's contest, Moon won here for the second time (she also won in 2010). The 42 year-old two-time world mountain running champion from Wellington, clocked 12 minutes and 39 seconds, handily beating second place Suzy Walsham, a 38 year-old former middle distance runner from Australia who won this race three times. Walsham, who lives in Singapore, stopped the clock at 13:08. Three-time Ironman triathlon world champion Chrissie Wellington of England finished third in her first attempt at the race, and was timed in 13:15. Wellington had only entered the race yesterday morning.

With the exception of the runners who competed in the invitational section, athletes ran this year's race in time-trial fashion, going off from the building's art decco lobby in 10-second intervals. A total of 441 men and 225 women finished the race, according to the New York Road Runners, the not-for-profit race organization which which founded and organizes the event.