Posts Tagged 'Matthias Jahn'
Posted: April 27, 2020 in Tower running history
Tags: 2010, Christian Riedl, Cindy Harris, Empire State Building Run Up, Matthew Byrne, Matthias Jahn, Melissa Moon, Thomas Dold
In 2010, defending champion Thomas Dold was going for a record-equaling fifth win. New and familiar faces were lined up in the lobby aiming to put a stop to the German juggernaut. In the women's division, three-time champ Suzy Walsham was sitting out the race while pregnant. Could Cindy Harris now finally claim a fifth title? Or would a new champion emerge?
If you missed the first installment of this series on the history of the Empire State Building Run-Up covering 1978-1980, you can read it here. Or jump back to 1981-1983, 1984-1987, 1988-1990, 1991-1993, 1994-1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 or 2009 instead.
The first Vertical World Circuit
With his fourth ESBRU title in the bag, Thomas Dold set about the rest of the 2009 season eager to secure more accolades.
His win in New York in February had been the first race in the newly launched Vertical World Circuit (VWC), a stair climbing series consisting of eight events across four continents: Empire State Building Run-Up (New York), Ramada Tower Run (Basel), Pirelli Tower Vertical Sprint (Milan), Taipei 101 Run-Up, SkyRun Berlin, Sydney Tower Run Up, Torre de Collserola Vertical (Barcelona) and the ​​Singapore Vertical Marathon. A proposed ninth race at the Donauturm in Vienna was cancelled due to building works at the tower.
Dold would dedicate the rest of the year to winning the inaugural Vertical World Circuit.
Ramada Tower Run (Basel) 2009
Less than three weeks after his ESBRU victory, 24-year old Dold was in Switzerland, ready to renew his rivalry with European tower running sprint specialist Gabriel Lombriser.
The pair had been swapping course records at the 542-step Ramada hotel in Basel since Lombriser set a new record at the second edition in 2005. Dold broke it in 2006 and Lombriser claimed it back in 2007.
The Ramada hotel in Basel, Switzerland
Dold hadn't attended the 2008 edition of the race, but he was back on Saturday 21 February 2009 to face off once more with his Swiss rival.
Victory eluded the German, who had to settle for second behind the record setting Lombriser, who clocked a best time of 2:41.
Dold's finishing time was just 0.9 seconds slower.
Pirelli Tower Vertical Sprint 2009
Dold skipped the Vertical Sprint at the Pirelli Tower in Milan 10 days later.
In Dold's absence, Italians Marco De Gasperi and Fabio Ruga battled it out for top spot.
De Gasperi already had points on the board for the VWC, having finished second to Dold at the ESBRU in February, and was looking to pick up the maximum points available in this race.
He managed it by securing the narrowest of victories, with mere centimetres separating him from Ruga at the finish line.
Marco De Gasperi (r) wins the 2009 Pirelli Tower Vertical Sprint ahead of Fabio Ruga
Record setting run in Stuttgart
Dold was back in action on Sunday 10 May at the 850-step Fernsehturm Stuttgart (TV Tower). He had won every edition of the race since it began in 2006.
Christian Riedl, Tomas Celko and Marcus Zahlbruckner were among the men looking to stop Dold's winning run.
But the three-time champ was unstoppable as he set a new course record of 4:05.
The following weekend, Thomas Dold waited in the lobby of Taipei 101 alongside De Gasperi and Ruga. The experienced Fu-Cai Chen, third at the 2007 and 2008 Taipei 101 Run-Ups and fifth at the 2008 ESBRU, was with them, as was Pedro Ribeiro.
With a first and a second-place finish apiece leaving them level so far in the Vertical World Circuit standings, the pressure was on Dold and De Gasperi to win and create a bit of distance from the other.
The climate in Taipei that May was oppressively humid and created tough conditions inside the stairwell that put additional strain on the athletes.
Dold set off first at 8am and was followed 20 seconds later by De Gasperi.
The German maintained the distance from his Italian rival for around 40 floors, before De Gasperi began to close the gap.
'Towards the 60th floor, I had gotten very close to Dold', recalled De Gasperi shortly after the race, 'so much so that I could hear his breathless breathing a few stairs above me. At that point, however, the effort began to take over.'
By the time they reached the top De Gasperi had managed to cut the gap again slightly but it wasn't enough to take victory.
Dold clocked 11:05 to take the win, while De Gasperi had to settle for second with his 11:15 finish.
An exhausted Thomas Dold is helped from the finish line at the 2009 Taipei 101 Run-Up
The dominance continues
A week later, Dold was back racing in Germany. It was his third top-level race in 14 days. This time the venue was the Messeturm in Frankfurt.
It was the third edition of the race at the tower, which saw runners race up 1,344 steps to the 61st floor. Dold's long-time rival, 26-year old Matthias Jahn, had won the first two editions of the race and was back in Frankfurt looking for a third straight win.
Dold waiting to run in Frankfurt
But Dold was in dominant form. He set a new course record of 6:36 to take the honours ahead of Jahn, who reached the top in 6:54.
Thomas Dold nears the finish on his way to victory at the Messeturm Frankfurt in 2009
Thomas Dold celebrates his win at the Messeturm in Frankfurt
Eight days later, on Whit Monday 1 June, Dold raced for the fourth time in a little over three weeks. Once more he was squaring off against emerging European tower running stars Tomas Celko and Christian Riedl.
The 770 steps of the Park Inn Berlin-Alexanderplatz were the proving ground this time.
Dold had won the three previous editions of the race and was a favourite to make it four in a row.
He did just that, taking almost five seconds off his previous best time to set a new course record of 3:09.
In a little over 21 days, Thomas Dold had fully established himself as a practically invincible force in the world of tower running. In four races, he had set three course records and beaten many of the top competitors in the world in the process.
Dold took a break from racing in June and July and prepared for more Vertical World Circuit races in the back end of the year.
Sydney Tower Run-Up 2009
The next race in the series was the Sydney Tower Run-Up on Friday 21 August.
This event had been churning out Empire State Building Run-Up champions since the late 1980s. The offer of a trip to New York with race entry to the ESBRU had proven a lucrative draw for top Australian athletes.
Multi-time ESBRU winners, Geoff Case, Belinda Soszyn and Paul Crake were just some of the brilliant tower runners to emerge victorious in Sydney over the years.
Dold was making his debut at the 1,504-step tower, where A$7,500 were up for grabs for the winner. He would be going up against a familiar challenger in the form of Scott McTaggart.
McTaggart had won the Sydney Tower Run-Up for the past three years. He'd also finished fourth at the ESBRU in 2008 and 2009, so Dold knew who he was.
Also in attendance were former Australian mountain running champion Daniel Green, an old rival of Paul Crake, and 2004 Sydney Tower Run-Up winner Jeremey Horne.
Even with such a strong field of experienced competitors, Dold was tipped to win. But there was a dark horse in the line up who, although he was making his stair running debut, was anticipated to mount the most serious challenge to the German star.
It was the newly crowned Australian mountain running champion, Mark Bourne.
Mark Bourne, Jim White, Thomas Dold and Scott McTaggart at the 2009 Sydney Tower Run-Up
But Dold secured the win with a time of 7:04. Newcomer Mark Bourne followed in 7:26 and Scott McTaggart took third spot in 7:35.
Dold had only arrived in Sydney on Tuesday, three days before the race, and just three hours after winning he was on a plane heading back to Germany.
Four weeks later, Dold set a new backwards running world record. Already a multi-world record holder in the discipline, he cut 23 seconds off his own 1,500m record to set a new best time of 5:01.
Two race-free months followed before Dold headed to Singapore for the finale of the Vertical World Circuit at the Swissotel Vertical Marathon on Sunday 22 November.
Singapore Vertical Marathon – the Vertical World Circuit finale
With an unassailable lead in the VWC, Dold wasn't joined in Singapore by any of his big rivals.
Three-time winner Pedro Ribeiro and Poland's Tomasz Klisz were well-established stair runners, but none were in the league of Dold.
Dold had broken the course record that had stood for nearly two decades when he won the event in 2008 in a time of 6:52. He was almost certain to win again. All eyes were on the clock to see if the German could beat his own time.
Thomas Dold (r) alongside Pedro Ribeiro (12) at the start of the 2009 Swissotel Vertical Marathon
He ran clear from all his rivals, finishing almost a minute ahead of Klisz as he set a new record of 6:46.
Thomas Dold on the roof of the Swissotel The Stamford, Singapore after setting a new course record
Thomas Dold toasts his win alongside women's winner Suzy Walsham
Dold left immediately for New Zealand to race at the Sky Tower Vertical Challenge in Auckland three days later. Predictably he won, setting what was widely reported as a new record time of 4:53.
Thomas Dold nears the finish at the Sky Tower, Auckland in 2009
[Ed. note – The previous best time of 5:17 was set by Jonathan Wyatt in 1999. Paul Crake's best time at the tower was 5:38. Wyatt and Crake had run 5:07 and 5:08 respectively in a brilliant race in 2002, but that was on a slightly shorter, altered course. Back in the early 2000s the race started with an approximately 150m pre-run into the tower. We were unable to determine if the 2009 edition started with a pre-run. But it's hard to believe, although not inconceivable, that Dold undercut the time of two of the best tower runners of all time by 24+ seconds if he started from the same spot.]
With the first Vertical World Circuit title and a bunch of new course records in the bag, Dold headed into 2010 confident of securing a fifth Empire State Building Run-Up title.
2010 Empire State Building Run-Up
There was a notable absentee among the women lined up in the lobby of the Empire State Building on Tuesday 2 February 2010 for the 33rd edition of the Run-Up. The three-time winner from Australia Suzy Walsham, who had also won the Taipei 101 Run-Up and Singapore Vertical Marathon in 2009, was pregnant and sitting out the race.
Not since 2003 had anyone but Andrea Mayr or Suzy Walsham won the ESBRU. Finally there would be a different name in the record books.
Cindy Harris had bagged her fourth title in 2003, and since then she had finished in second place four times, as well as third and fourth in other years.
She'd retained her Bop to the Top title in Indianapolis nine days prior to the ESBRU, so was obviously in good shape. As a result, the Indianapolis veteran who had won her first ESBRU title in 1998 was on the shortlist of expected winners.
There were plenty of experienced ESBRU runners alongside Harris. One had even won it before while others had been on the podium and in the top five. But their personal records weren't quite as good as Harris' sub-13 minute best.
Michelle Blessing had won the ESBRU in 1995 and finished second in 1994 and third in 1996. She returned out of the blue in 2009 to finish 14th. Could she bounce back with a much better time in 2010? Blessing had also been coaching first time tower runner, but regular marathoner, Gretchen Hurlbutt. Could Blessing's protege throw in a surprise performance of her own?
Amy Fredericks, who had finished third in 2004 and 2005 and fourth on a few other occasions, had a decent chance of getting back on the podium this year.
Stacey Creamer had finished in the top five on three previous occasions. Could she finally step onto the podium?
Caroline Gaynor was back for another shot too. A former rower at Columbia University who had turned her focus to Ironman events and other triathlon distances, Gaynor had finished fourth in 2008.
But there were some exciting debutants on the start line too.
New York-based Australian Rondi Davies was a sub-three hour marathoner and long distance open water swimmer. In 2008 she'd taken third at the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim and in summer 2009 she'd won the inaugural 10-mile Kingdom Swim at Lake Memphremagog up in Vermont. A complete unknown on the stairs, but a serious athlete and one to watch.
A far more familiar and formidable name was also on the start list, Melissa Moon from New Zealand.
The 2001 and 2003 world mountain running champion (also third in 1997 and 1998) was no stranger to tower running. She'd been racing on the stairs on and off for a decade, but had never taken part in the Empire State Building Run-Up.
Among her stair running successes were wins in very competitive races at the Telekom Malaysia Towerthon at Kuala Lumpur Tower in 2000-2002. She also won the Sky Tower race in Auckland in 2001 and 2002.
Melissa Moon and Jonathan Wyatt – winners of the KL Tower Run 2001
In 2005 she had finished second behind Andrea Mayr at the inaugural Taipei 101 Run-Up, running a solid 13:34. She took third in 2006 and fourth in 2007.
Melissa Moon took second at the 2005 Taipei 101 Run-Up
Moon had been in Sydney at the same race as Thomas Dold back in August. She'd finished fourth behind winner Vanessa Haverd, former ESBRU winner Angela Leadbeatter (1999) and reigning ESBRU champion Suzy Walsham. A little over 20 seconds separated Moon and Walsham, so the Kiwi runner was evidently in good stair climbing shape coming into 2010.
She'd been training regularly on the stairs of the 28-floor Majestic Centre in Wellington, where she had told security guards that she was trying to become the first New Zealander to win the Empire State Building race.
"They bent over backward," said Moon, 'What do you need? We'll give you a swipe card.' They put supportive signs in the stairwell."
Well prepared and well experienced, all the signs pointed toward Melissa Moon launching the most serious challenge to Cindy Harris and the other experienced ESBRU runners.
Caroline Gaynor (orange vest) and Melissa Moon stretch next to Cindy Harris (103) on the front row of the start line at the 2010 Empire State Building Run-Up
At the sound of the starter's horn, ambitious debutant Kacie Fisher (#105) got out in front of everyone. A former collegiate heptathlete at Cal Poly, Fisher had found out about the race three weeks before the start and said, 'there was no way I was gonna miss this'.
Cindy Harris followed closest, with Melissa Moon (#102) and Gretchen Hurlbutt (far right, red vest) running together a step behind.
Kacie Fisher gets out in front, followed by Cindy Harris, Melissa Moon and Gretchen Hurlbutt (by the wall in the red vest)
Caroline Gaynor (104, high white socks), Meghan Newcomer (white visor) and Amy Fredericks (blue vest) follow in behind the leading group
The start was fairly orderly and there were no serious shoves or falls, such as had marred the start of the 2009 ESBRU when Suzy Walsham was pushed into the wall as she headed for the door.
You can see in the image below that padding had been fixed to the walls on either side of the door to the stairwell, to prevent a repeat of the smashed lip and knee Walsham received the year before.
Kacie Fisher enters the doorway, followed by Harris, Moon, Hurlbutt and Fredericks
Details on what played out in the stairwell have been difficult to find. The available in-race footage (scroll to the bottom for race videos) offers little insight. Likewise, post-race interviews in newspapers are devoid of details about how the race played out.
But given the information available, it's been possible to piece together a story that seems to make sense.
It seems that the inexperienced Fisher went out way too fast and was tracked by Harris, who was probably wary of giving an unknown runner too much of a lead early on.
At the 50th floor, Fisher later claimed she 'tore the lining of her lung from over expansion' and her legs gave out. The pace must have taken a massive toll on her and Harris, because the pair were passed by a number of runners in the latter stages of the race.
Before the race Gretchen Hurlbutt had said her plan was to pace herself for the first half and then see what she had left for the rest of the race. She seems to have done just that, sticking behind Melissa Moon for much of the race before being dropped in the second half.
In the second video below Moon can be seen running on her own at what seems to be somewhere between the 68th and 72nd floors. She remained completely unchallenged as she surged to the top.
Down below Gretchen Hurlbutt passed Harris and Fisher and pushed into second place. She was tracked closely by Amy Fredericks, Rondi Davies and Stacey Creamer, all battling for the podium.
Amy Fredericks remarked after the race: "Two women that I passed, they were starting to keel over and they were doing single steps." It's likely she is referring to Fisher and Harris.
Harris and Fisher continued to be passed by multiple runners. Cindy Harris eventually finished in 13th place in 15:13 while Fisher ended up in 20th position, crossing the line in 15:54. Bear in mind, Harris had taken third the year before in a time of 13:49. In no uncertain terms, the race was a disaster.
Kacie Fisher drops to the floor after crossing the finish line
Cindy Harris (middle) and Caroline Gaynor (right, 14:42 – seventh place) recovering after the race
For Melissa Moon, however, it was a triumph. She ran untested in the latter stages and crossed the finish line in 13:13.
Gretchen Hurlbutt followed 40 seconds later in 13:53, while Amy Fredericks won the battle for the final podium spot with her 14:15 finish.
Rondi Davies was fourth in 14:23 and Stacey Creamer took fifth in 14:25.
Gretchen Hurlbutt takes second place at the 2010 Empire State Building Run-Up
Overall it was one of the slowest women's races in years. Not since 2003 had anyone run slower than 14:00 and made it onto the podium.
But Melissa Moon had run an excellent and well-paced debut race and was delighted with her win.
'When you know the history of this building, built in 1931, years ahead of its time, it is a privilege to run here. I've climbed taller buildings, but here, this race has a completely different meaning. I am very proud of this victory that I will be able to write on my CV.'
The drive for five
In the 32 previous editions of the Empire State Building Run-Up, two men had managed to win five titles: Al Waquie (1983-87) and Paul Crake (1999-2003).
Thomas Dold would join that unique group if he could hold off the challenge of his competitors one more time. His closest rivals in recent years, Rickey Gates (eight seconds behind in 2008) and Marco De Gasperi (22 seconds slower in 2009), weren't in attendance, so the race really was Dold's to lose.
Although there was a lot of established and fast emerging talent in the field, none of them were quite at the level of Dold.
Matthias Jahn was the most likely to launch a significant challenge on his compatriot. Jahn had been on the ESBRU podium in 2007 and 2008, and had beaten Dold before in shorter races at European venues.
But Dold had seen him off by an 18-second margin at the 1,344 step Messeturm in Frankfurt a few months earlier. He typically had Jahn's number over the longer courses.
Similarly, Dold had beaten emerging European stars Christian Riedl and Tomas Celko at races back in 2009. Riedl was making his second apperance in Manhattan, while Celko was racing for the first time. The pair were decent shouts for a top 10 or possibly top five finish, but it was unlikely they would really challenge the reigning champion.
Another strong debutant and seasoned tower runner, Omar Bekkali, would possibly be in the mix for the top five, but it was hard to see him launching a serious challenge to Dold. Likewise, excellent athletes such as Javier Santiago, Jesse Berg and Pedro Ribeiro would be expected to be among the top finishers, but they'd never posed a threat to Dold at the ESBRU or various other races around the world.
The one unknown was the impressive Matthew Byrne from Scranton, PA. A successful collegiate runner for St Joseph's University, Byrne had won three individual Atlantic 10 Conference championships while at the college in Philadelphia.
After college, he had qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon in 2004 and 2008. He'd also represented the United States in the World Mountain Running Championships in 2008 and 2009. He'd finished ahead of fellow USA team member Rickey Gates at the 2009 Championships, so was evidently a serious prospect.
Byrne would surely have reached out to Gates for tips on the race and the course as he prepared to make his ESBRU debut. Could he shock everyone and do what Rickey Gates had come so close to doing in 2008?
Gates had been stuck a few rows back from the start on his debut in 2007. Matthew Byrne made sure he was in prime position on the front row for his first race.
You can seen him in the picture below off to the left wearing #5. Left of him in the blue vest is Christian Riedl, then heading right across the lobby there's Trevor Folgering (#10, well out of place and should be a couple of rows back), Jesse Berg (orange vest, #8), Tomas Celko (blue shorts, #44), Matthias Jahn (#3), Thomas Dold (#1) and Javier Santiago (blue longsleeves, #7).
The first image below, and the video at the bottom, shows that Byrne actually got the best start, gaining a step on Dold who was the next quickest to react to the horn. But the American had more ground to cover to the door and by the time the runners reached it Dold, as always, was in first place. Javier Santiago was next, followed by Jahn, Byrne and Jesse Berg.
With Thomas Dold at the helm, the ESBRU was becoming increasingly formulaic. Some of his winning races had been a lot closer than others, but 2010 wasn't one of them.
Details were scant in the post-race newspaper reports, but Dold was first in the door and didn't relinquish the lead. The rest of the pack stuck with the powerful young German for as long as they could, but his strength saw him pull away in the second half of the race.
In the first video below (@0:38) you can see Dold running alone at the 65th floor crossover as he catches up with a group of runners from the women's race. In the second video (@1:44) he is free from the crowds and running on a clear stairwell, likely somewhere between the 68th and 72nd floors.
He reached the top in 10:16, taking a record equaling fifth ESBRU title. He collapsed somewhat theatrically to the ground just after crossing the line and stayed on his knees for a while right in front of the finish, forcing tired runners to go around him as they too crossed the finish line.
Thomas Dold falls to his knees at the finish line of the 2010 ESBRU
He was followed by fellow German Matthias Jahn who crossed the finish in 10:56 (see him in the second video below @1:53 passing debutant Shari Klarfeld late in the race). Funnily, the margin between first and second in the men's race was exactly the same as in the women's, 40 seconds.
Matthias Jahn celebrates taking second place as Thomas Dold and a race steward look on
Matthew Byrne took third in 11:29, while Omar Bekkali (11:51) and Javier Santiago (11:55) completed the top five.
Byrne said he'd like to come back next year and challenge Dold again, but noted he'd have to find a different strategy.
"He was off like a dart right from the beginning," Byrne said of the start. "He really takes his stance early. I'd have to change something."
Matthew Byrne recovers after taking third at the 2010 Empire State Building Run-Up
Tomas Celko, Pavel Holec, Pedro Ribeiro and Christian Riedl recovering after the race
Thomas Dold celebrates his fifth straight ESBRU victory
"It took me six years to get to this point, and to be here as the winner this day is quite amazing," Dold said. "To do this race six times and get five victories – it's unbelievable right now. And to be named along with Paul Crake as a five-time winner is a big honour."
Melissa Moon and Thomas Dold – 2010 Empire State Building Run-Up winners
2010 ESBRU: The women's and men's top 3
All the ESBRU winners since 1978
Five great Empire State Building Run-Up moments
Racing up stairs in 18th century London – the story of a 1730 stair running challenge
Posted: March 1, 2019 in Tower running history
Tags: 2007, Cindy Harris, Empire State Building Run Up, ESBRU history, Matthias Jahn, Suzy Walsham, Thomas Dold
With course record holder Andrea Mayr calling it a day at the ESBRU, a powerhouse of Australian athletics stepped forward to attempt to carry on her country's winning tradition in New York. Meanwhile, the reigning men's champion Thomas Dold was back to defend his title.
If you missed the first installment of this series on the history of the Empire State Building Run-Up covering 1978-1980, you can read it here. Or jump back to 1981-1983, 1984-1987, 1988-1990, 1991-1993, 1994-1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 or 2006 instead.
Otherwise read on for the next installment in the series and find out what happened at ESBRU in 2007.
At the time of the 20th edition of the Swissotel Vertical Marathon in Singapore on 19th November 2006 there seemed to be nothing particularly noteworthy about the event. As had been the case since the Westin Stamford hotel first hosted the race in 1987, a good spread of runners from Singapore and beyond turned up to compete. But future events would go on to show that the 20th edition of that race was one of the most significant moments in tower running history; the debut of Suzy Walsham.
Swissotel The Stamford in Singapore
Very few of the people at the Swissotel that day would have known they were lining up against one of Australia's top athletes, and even fewer would have known that the soon-to-turn 33-year old Walsham had emerged at the top of Australian middle-distance running 15 years ago. Her athletic journey to Singapore had been remarkable.
Suzy Walsham had been competing at a high level since the mid to late 1980s, finishing well every year in a range of distances at the Australian All Schools' Track and Field Championships. In 1988 she broke the Australian under-16 women's record for the 1500m.
14-year old Suzy Walsham in 1988, running at the site of what would later become the Sydney Olympic Park
Her performances steadily improved until she was eventually selected to represent Australia at the inaugural World Junior Women's Cross Country Championships in Stavanger, Norway in March 1989. Competing against some of the best young runners in the world, many of whom were significantly older than her, the 15-year old Walsham put in an excellent run to finish in ninth place.
You can watch the young Walsham at those championships in the video below. Click forward to 5:07 and you will see her come into shot in the gold top and green shorts wearing #9.
Suzy Walsham in 1989. She raced barefoot for a lot of her teenage years.
A year later, Walsham, now 16, was competing in the 1990 Australian National Championships in the under-18 and under-20 divisions. She had set a PB of 4:11.04 at the beginning of 1990, a time that actually ranked her #1 in the world for U/20 that year, so was in fantastic form.
A precocious talent, she won the 1500m and 3000m under-20 races, plus the under-18 800m title at the national championships. Interestingly, Suzanne Malaxos, who had just won the second of her two ESBRU titles (1989-1990), was also competing at the national championships that year, where she finished second in the senior 10km track race.
Walsham's impressive wins earned her a spot on the Australian team that was heading to Plovdiv, Bulgaria for the 1990 World Junior Athletics Championships in August.
But disaster struck just three months months before the World Junior Championships when Walsham developed a stress fracture. The battle was now on just to get to the start line. Up until 10 days before the championships she was unable to run at all and was limited to just pool running. But the indomitable Walsham battled on and made it to Plovdiv.
In the 1500m event, she finished 4th in her heat, with a time of 4:23.66, which was good enough to earn her automatic qualification for the final the following day.
The full final is in the video below (intros start at 33:47). Despite the horrible build up to the championships, Walsham still ran a good race. Understandably she was just a little off the pace of the top runners. She finished in 4:19.23, which placed her 8th in a field of 15.
Finishing eight seconds off her PB was disappointing of course, but given the circumstances Walsham was happy enough with her performance. The winner, Qu Yunxia of China (4:13.67), went on to win Olympic 1500m bronze two years later in 1992 and World Championship gold in the 5000m in 1993.
Walsham actually finished ahead of Olga Yegorova who would go on to win World Championship gold in the 5000m in 2001.
A few months later at the 1991 Australian Track and Field Championships in Sydney in February, Walsham was competing for her first senior title aged just 17.
She was up against the likes of Jodie Hebbard, who'd finished second in the 1500m at the 1982 and 1984 national championships as a teenager, and Anne Cross, who was third in the same event the year before.
"Suzy's blistered feet after a weekend on the track. The tape she uses as protection, however, peels back the damaged skin to expose raw flesh which constantly requires bathing in salt water. One blister was so big and painful that it halted her training for a week. Fearing it was infected, Walsham went to a doctor who was shocked by what he saw. 'The blister had spread right up into my toes, and the doctor had never seen anything like it', she said." – March 1991
Walsham had spent a lot of her youth competing barefoot but had recently made the switch to using spikes on the track.
Suzy Walsham, 1991
Walsham ran an excellent race, shocking many and winning her first 1500m senior title in 4:12.40.
A month later, Walsham was back out on international duty, competing in the junior women's race at the 1991 World Cross Country Championship in Belgium. There was a strong field of runners assembled, including future multi-Olympic and world champions, plus the former marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe.
Once more Walsham proved she could more than hold her own with the best in the world. She managed to finish 13th in the field of 124 finishers, and even crossed the line ahead of Paula Radcliffe who was 15th.
A decline in fortunes
And then things started to go wrong. Beset by injuries and illness, Walsham's athletic career stuttered before it had the chance to pick up full steam.
In 1992, Walsham didn't get to defend her senior 1500m title at the Australian Championships. Instead she ran in the under-20s race, where she finished 4th. It was a frustrating time for the promising young athlete as she struggled to meet the same times that had earned her her first title 12 months prior.
Just over a couple of weeks later, she was in Boston for the junior women's race at the 1992 World Cross Country Championship. She finished 76th out of 104 racers. Paula Radcliffe won the race.
Walsham didn't feature in the 1993 national championships, but did return to the senior ranks in 1994 where she finished 7th in the 1500m.
She finished 7th again in the 1500m in 1995, but was still struggling to get back to the form that had secured her first senior title in 1991.
Then from 1996-1998, Walsham didn't appear at the nationals at all, and it's hard to find any results for her during this period.
But toward the end of 1998, Walsham began to emerge again, picking up podium places at regional races and racing in the 800m as well as the 1500m. She took this good form into the start of 1999, picking up wins and podium places in the 1500m and 800m at races in Sydney and Canberra. The comeback was on.
She wasn't quite there yet to race at the 1999 or 2000 national championships, but she finished 9th at the Australian Olympic Trials for the 1500m in August 2000.
Suzy Walsham on the comeback trail in January 2000
Then on Saturday 24th March 2001, a decade after winning her first national senior title, Walsham was finally back on the start line for another 1500m national championship race. She was the fastest in the heats the day before and headed into the final full of confidence.
Her incredible determination and perseverance earned her a second Australian Championship title. Her winning time of 4:14.61 was the quickest she'd run for some time.
On her way to winning the 1500m at the 2001 Australian Championships
In February 2002 she won the 800m and the 1500m at the NSW Championships, but could only manage 5th in the 1500m at the Australian Championships in April. At the end of the year, Walsham began to work with a new coach, Said Aouita.
Aouita, a former world record holder for the 1500m and 5000m, had won 5000m gold at the 1984 Olympics and 1987 World Championships, and Olympic bronze in the 800m in Seoul in 1988. Walsham began to improve immediately under his guidance.
In April 2003, Walsham won her third national title, taking victory in the 1500m in 4:12.96.
Crossing the line to win the 2003 Australian Championships
Seven weeks later she set a new personal best in the 1500m of 4:07.08 while racing at the famous Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. The week before she had set a new 800m PB at a race in Portland.
The 2004 national championships were a bit of a disappointment as Walsham aimed for the 800m and 1500m double. She managed 4th in the 800m and 5th in the 1500m.
By the time the 2005 nationals came around, she had parted ways with Aouita and was now working full time and being coached by her younger sister Debbie.
She made it to the final of the 1500m, where she managed to finish in third place.
Walsham in action in the 1500m heats at the 2005 Australian Championships
Then in 2006 everything came together.
On Friday 3rd February, Walsham ran in the final of the 1500m at the Australian Championships and placed second in 4:08.72, which was one of the fastest finishes she'd managed for a long time.
The next day she ran in the heats of the 800m and qualified easily for the final on Sunday. In the final she did what every athlete dreams of. She ran a PB of 2:01.85 to win a fourth national title, an incredible 15 years after her first one.
800m final at the 2006 Australian Track and Field Championships
Walsham was now on the Australian national team that was selected to compete at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and she was finally going to fulfill a long held ambition to represent her country at senior level at a major championships.
'I think I've finally reached a place in my life where I've got a bit of balance,' Walsham told reporters after her 800m victory. 'I'm just so excited about it. I've had five months of injury-free training. Debbie's just been fantastic.'
Asked whether she could win double gold at the Commonwealth Games, Walsham said: 'Both races are going to be tough, but I've just got to get my foot on the line and then anything can happen.'
2006 Commonwealth Games, Melbourne
In Melbourne, she qualified for the semi-finals of the 800m, as one of the fastest runners-up in the heats. But the pace in her semi-final was a bit too quick and her 2:04.02 finish wasn't good enough to get her to the final.
In the 1500m she fared much better. She qualified for the final automatically by finishing fourth in her heat.
Walsham leads the pack in the 1500m heats of the 2006 Commonwealth Games
You can watch the full race from the final in the video below (spoilers under video).
Walsham finished in 6th place, and with that final high she called time on her track and field career. Her athletics journey had been incredible. Battling through multiple injuries and setbacks to take a fourth Australian Championships title 15 years after first winning as a 17 year old. Then to cap off your career with a 6th-place finish at the Commonwealth Games is so impressive and inspirational.
Walsham relocated to Singapore later in 2006 and when there she saw an advertisement for the Swissotel Vertical Marathon. What caught her eye was that first prize was a trip to New York to race at the Empire State Building. She'd never raced in a tower before, but backed herself as having a good shot given the shape she was in.
So there she found herself lined up at the hotel in November 2006, not knowing what to expect.
The 73-floor/1,336-step tower was going to be a baptism of fire, but Walsham was more than up to the task. She won the race and set a new course record in the process. She was heading to New York.
Dold goes from strength to strength
After securing his first ESBRU title in February 2006, Thomas Dold went from strength to strength on the stairs. Throughout the rest of 2006 he secured wins in Basel, Berlin and Stuttgart. He also set more world records in backwards running, with new best times for the 1500m and 3000m.
Thomas Dold on his way to winning the SkyRun Berlin 2006
In October he competed at the second Taipei 101 Run Up and finished second to Paul Crake, who won the race in 10:31. Dold was second in 11:16, which was 37 seconds faster than third-placed Rudi Reitberger. It was an impressive performance by the young German that would have been looked upon ominously by his ESBRU rivals.
Then on the 11th November 2006 he finally won the Donauturm Treppenlauf in Vienna at the fourth attempt. Everything was set up perfectly for Dold to try and win his second ESBRU title.
On Tuesday 6th February, Suzy Walsham was lined up in the lobby alongside 55 other women.
Suzy Walsham (centre) prepares for her ESBRU debut in 2007
Four-time winner Cindy Moll-Harris was back, and would probably have been backing herself to win for a record fifth time, given that the supreme Andrea Mayr wasn't there.
Her long-time rival Fiona Bayly was also on the start line. Bayly had debuted in 1995 (coming second in a personal best 13:10) and had finished on the podium multiple times, most notably in 1998 when she finished just a second behind the winner, Moll-Harris.
Amy Fredericks, who had finished fifth in 2006 and third in 2004 and 2005, was also there. The casual observers would have been looking for the winner among those three.
That trio was lined up in the centre of the front row of racers. The unknown Walsham stood behind them.
Fredericks got a typically fast start and was through the door first, followed immediately by Moll-Harris and then Bayly.
Amy Fredericks heads for the stairwell door at the start of the 2007 ESBRU
Walsham managed to make it through the door in around 13th position. Not a terrible start, but she was going to have her work cut out passing a heap of women who were definitely slower than her.
But she powered through them and by the 65th floor crossover she had established a narrow lead. You can see her in the video below displaying that now familiar rhythmic and staggered stair climbing style that has served her so well since (@0:40).
Walsham managed to maintain her lead despite Moll-Harris and Bayly pushing hard just a couple of floors below. She finally exited onto the observation deck and crossed the line in 13:12 to win on her debut.
Suzy Walsham wins her first ESBRU title in 2007
Moll-Harris was next in 13:24, with Bayly once again a mere second behind her in 13:25.
'The start was a nightmare', said Walsham. Trying to get out in front wasn't too pleasant either for the Australian. 'I pushed my way through. There was one girl who was holding both sides and I said "I want to get past, hold one side"'.
Dold goes for two in a row
With his dominance at several stair races throughout 2006, Thomas Dold was expected to defend his ESBRU title.
Alongside him in the lobby were plenty of experienced ESBRU athletes, including Rudi Reitberger, Jaroslaw Lazarowicz, Tomasz Klisz and Dold's German team mate Matthias Jahn.
Among the others in the lobby that day were several men that will be familiar to many readers: Jesse Berg, Ralf Hascher, Tim Van Orden, David Tromp and a 17-year old Shaun Stephens-Whale.
Ultra-runner and adventurer Rickey Gates was also in the lobby ready to make his ESBRU debut. Well known now for his endurance feats, which include his TransAmericana project in 2017, he was one of the hottest new prospects in US mountain running back in 2007. Later in the year he would go on to be named USA Track and Field Mountain Runner of the Year, after winning both the U.S. Mountain Running Championship and U.S. Trail Championship in back-to-back weeks. Unfortunately for him, he was placed pretty far back in the pack at the Empire State Building. He certainly had the caliber to be in contention for a podium spot, but given his position in the pack it was going to take some serious work to catch up with the front runners.
Matthias Jahn got a good start and seemed to open up a gap for Dold to come through. Perhaps they had a plan for Jahn to tail the stronger Dold who would pull him onto the podium.
You can see Dold in the yellow vest in the picture below, looking like he's about to be passed by a bunch of guys.
But the reigning champion quickly powered through and by the time they reached the door he was in first place, with Jahn right behind him.
The Empire State Building Run-Up is renowned for its mass start, and in the days before it streamlined the elite race it was often derided as being ridiculous and unnecessarily dangerous. There had been stumbles before in the men's elite race, and there had been falls at the back of the women's elite starts before, but never had there been a significant pile up at the front of the men's race. This time, unfortunately, was different.
Jose Mateo Martinez went down hard just before the door (you can see him falling in some of the images above) and the surrounding runners ran over him. Most managed to stay on their feet but Tomasz Klisz went down – you can see his journey to the floor in the two images below.
The whole sequence was recorded and later uploaded by Tim Van Orden. You can watch it in the video below (some of his annotations are incorrect, Klisz is Polish not Austrian).
Out in front, Dold and Jahn maintained their positions. The faster Dold began to pull away in the later stages of the race and as Jahn began to tire, the climbers below him started to close in.
Thomas Dold builds his lead
At 0:24-0:30 in the men's race video below you can see Rudi Reitberger (#2), Rickey Gates (#51) and Tommy Coleman (#27) battling for a podium spot around the 65th floor. Up ahead and out of shot is Pedro Ribeiro.
Dold crossed the line in 10:25, aggressively ripping the tape from the grasp of the two men holding it at the finish line and throwing it on the floor. In the race videos below you can hear someone saying what sounds like, 'shit…SHIT!' as Dold crosses the line to win for the second time. The young German was already building a fan base.
Thomas Dold turns the corner on the observation deck heading for the finish
Dold reaches out to tear down the finish line
Matthias Jahn managed to hold on to second place, crossing the line in 10:56. Dold ran back along the observation deck to check if his countryman was coming behind him and when Jahn emerged the pair yelled and hollered across the line before embracing.
Matthias Jahn jumps for joy as Thomas Dold cheers him on
You can see it in the video below (and hear the comical 'shit, SHIT' a bit clearer, too). Their impassioned antics are reminiscent of the beach scene in Rocky 3 when Balboa and Creed embrace in the surf after an intense sprint session.
Rickey Gates managed to win the battle for third and crossed the line in 11:02, ahead of Pedro Ribeiro in 11:10 and Rudi Reitberger in 11:12.
'I might have done a little better if I didn't have to start 30 feet back,' said Gates.
'It's just a mob mentality. Off the start, it goes from about 30 feet wide down to 3 feet wide in about five seconds…It's the first time I've ever done anything like it. It's certainly a new experience trying to cram 50 runners into a little 3-foot-wide stairwell.'
'My time was fast. Certainly a lot of Americans have run faster than me in previous years, but it was cool to be the top American finisher. I knew I was going to do well – I was just not sure how well'.
He even spoke of one runner intentionally reaching back and trying to slap him in the face as he attempted to pass on the stairs. But he was unperturbed and determined to return in 2008 where he would be given a better place on the start line.
Dold and Jahn celebrate on the observation deck
Men's podium in the lift: Matthias Jahn, Rickey Gates and Thomas Dold (l-r)
Thomas Dold and Suzy Walsham – ESBRU winners 2007
2007 Empire State Building results