April 21st, 2007
Since I decided to do this thing on Tuesday night, I had only Wednesday and Thursday to train (Friday I took off) and on Saturday morning as I got out of bed my legs were still sore from the training. I had to walk down the stairs sideways so that my legs hurt less but I did my best to keep my thought positive. I missed the bus after breakfast so I drove downtown and discovered that parking isn't free on Saturdays, so I looked around for a while and found a spot not too far from the tower. I hurried down into the base of the tower and heard the gun go off(8:30 am). So I checked my bag in, took a deep breath and took off. In my nightmares leading up to this day I had pictured a large spiral concrete staircase but it turned out to be two maroon-coloured steel staircases that rose side by side, each only two people wide. Each flight was 15 stairs and at the end of each flight there was often a painted mural as well as the floor level and the number of steps conquered at that point. After a few runs I got to know the ones I liked and I looked forward to them on the way up. After the first 390 stairs there was a fox on a hill and at the bottom it said "Alberta Fox: created by God, painted by Jake, Suzanne ...". And after 615 steps there was Calvin and Hobbes walking on a log and keeping their hands up for balance, sometimes I'd give them a high-five because I knew they wouldn't fall off the log and I needed the support, haha.
My legs hadn't been feeling too good at the beginning of the day but I sang some hymns in my head on my way up and kept my mind on other things. And after the first hour and a half I had finished 6 runs so I was making good time. Unfortunately a surge of people, mostly those just coming to climb it once, came in around 10:00 and clogged up the staircases a bit and made the wait for the elevator quite long.
Susan, the accountant at the hotel I work at had come out that day to support me/ make sure I actually showed up since she had made a contribution. She brought Baxter along who is a small dog stuffed animal who she jokes is the perfect kid because he's low maintenance, she doesn't have to buy him anything and he always gets along with her. So because he hadn't done it before I brought him with me on trips 2 and 13. Susan decided to climb it once and I met her at the top where I got a picture but was too tired to realize that I didn't have one without Baxter. After the tenth run I didn't think I would get more than one other climb in but I managed to keep my slowed pace for another 4. After the 14th run I met another large group of people waiting for one of the two elevators at the top, each of which holds only 15 people. So, knowing that it would take longer if I had waited my turn, I raced back down the 802 stairs. With 30 minutes left in the 5 hour affair and unenthused about the number 14 I decided to make my up one more time, slowly but surely, to make it 15. So in all I made it up 12,030 stairs, which isn't what I was hoping for but much more than I expected after climbing it once or twice :) There were two people who missed the record of 30 by one but could have made it had people let them on to the elevator quicker. Oh and my legs were fine! they felt better when I got home from the race than they had before it started. And the next day they weren't sore either, I guess someone heard my hymns. So, I've talked too much once again but the view was amazing, the challenge was exciting and it was a great experience.
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