The Morning Blend
Welcome
Complete Media Kit
BISBEE — Tim Van Orden is used to stairs.
Usually however, his courses of choice are the musty, industrial stairwells of America’s tallest skyscrapers. So to apply his specialty in the open air and festive ambiance of tiny Bisbee was a treat for the 40-year-old from Bennington, Vt.
“This is the best town I’ve ever been to,” said Van Orden to the crowd at the awards ceremony of the 19th Bisbee 1000 Stair Climb. “I’ve run the Sears Tower, the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles and this is the toughest race I’ve ever done.”
Van Orden became the first to break the 30-minute mark in the run through the whole of Old Bisbee and its unique and imposing 1,034 old-timey stairs, posting a time of 29:48, 53 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor, Matt Cavanaugh, a 29-year-old St. Paul, Minn. native currently stationed at Fort Huachuca.
  
|
The two were virtually tied through the midway point of the race when Van Orden took the lead for good as the course made a figure eight near the starting line on the way to the sixth of 10 flights of stairs at the Bisbee Repetory Company.
“The first four staircases we stayed together and traded off who would lead,” said Cavanaugh, who like Van Orden was in his first Bisbee 1000. “But after the fifth he broke from me. He was within sight until the very end.”
The breakaway at the midpoint fell perfectly into Van Orden’s pre-race plan.
“There was a lot of strategy involved,” Van Orden said. “I noticed after flight three, flights four and five were right next to each other. So I took a little break after three and let him take the lead. By four he was hurting and by five, I knew he was done.”
As an indoor stairwell specialist, Van Orden felt he had an advantage over Cavanaugh, who specializes in trail running, including the Pike’s Peak Marathon in Colorado.
“One of the things I noticed was that he wasn’t pulling on the railings,” Van Orden said. “In tower racing you have to pull. I think that hurt him.”
Brian Hall, 33, of Tucson finished third overall in 31:19.
On the women’s side, 22-year-old Kirsten Dawson, who like Cavanaugh is temporarily stationed at Fort Huachuca, won not only the women’s overall, but shortly thereafter won the women’s portion of the Iceman Challenge, wherein competitors ran with 10-pound blocks of ice straight up the 157-steps near the Ironman statue.
“I felt pretty good on the stairs,” said Dawson, who won in a time of 33:44. “I think the eighth straicase was the toughest because right after you had to run up a hill. Usually, with the others you’d get a nice downhill run.”
Dawson said she would run the Bisbee 1000 next year, but won’t be able to because she certainly won’t be stationed at Fort Huachuca.
Neither will Cavanaugh, who said his next assignment is in Central Pennsylvania and after that, Hawaii. Still, Cavanaugh plans to do whatever it takes to make it back.
“For a kid from Minnesota to have this kind of weather to run in in late October is unbelievable,” Cavanaught said. “(On the entry) I listed myself as being from Sierra Vista. I like it here. It’s small but it’s got enough to do and a lot of outdoor activities... This is probably the most unique event I’ve ever done. The blend of uphill, downhill and stairs and the fact that they come up with this as a solution to financing taking care of these stairs is fantastic. I would definitely come back.”
Van Orden is also eager to defend his title next October.
“I had no idea what to expect,” Van Orden said. “I was hoping to break 30 minutes, but there’s some good athletes out here — (Cavanaugh) is a good athlete.”
Van Orden began racing up skyscrapers after years of road running began taking a toll.
“I used to be a trail runner but then I developed knee injuries from running downhill,” Van Orden said. “Then I realized I could run uphill with no knee pain. A friend told me there’s this sport called tower running. I tried it and got hooked.”
Next up for Van Orden is a tower running event at Sears Tower in Chicago, and in February, he will partake again in the world championships of tower running at the Empire State Building.
“It’s 150 of the fittest men on the planet and the Europeans do not play fair,” Van Orden said, adding that the Empire State event is the only one where runners start all at once, rather than being staggered 10 seconds apart. “Last year I finished 13th and I got elbowed in the throat and knocked down a stairwell.”
Gabe Leuthe won the Iceman Challenge in 22.05 to break his own record. Attila Boros was second in 25.01 and Jeff Dinken was third in 25.20.
In other results:Girls 10-14 were headed by first-place Kelsey Camps, Autumn Brown and Amber Richter and the boys of the same age were led by Benjamin Stone, Andrew Camps and Dillon Snyder.
Justina Sisler won the women’s 15-19 in 37:36 followed by Anna Van Meter and Jenna Grimes.
Boys 15-19 was won by Jeremy Heiss for the third consecutive year. Fellow Bisbee High grad Diego Hoyos finished second and Patrick Fitzsimmons was third.
Dawson represented the women’s 20-24 group followed by Stacey Pearson and Marlee Forsberg. Prido Polanco won the men’s 20-24 class in a time of 35:51 with Alejandro Flores coming in second and John Cahir third.
Aaron Hobson won the women’s 25-29 group followed by Amanda Schneider and Julia Kochie, while the men’s class was headed by Cavanaugh followed by Daniel Zamora and Michael Senigo.
Janet Toney won the women’s 30-34 division in 43:06 with Merrill Sapp second and Tina McGrew third and for the men it was Hall first followed by Attila Boros and Matthew Irlmeier.
For women 35-39 it was Jeanne Anne Krizman placing first with Pamela Scanlon and Michel Turner following, and for the men, Michael Duer took first with Mark Trettnar second and Todd Elwood third.
Irma Bucher was first among women 40-44. Rene James was second and Doreen Castillo third.
Van Orden represented the men’s 40-44 flight. Chase Duarte was second and Larry Roberts third.
R.L. Rand won the women’s 45-49 group ahead of fellow Sierra Vistan Kathleen Camp and Melody Mustafa. For the men it was Jim McIntosh leading the way followed by Paul Vyriotes.
For more results, see:
http://www.ceptiming.com/2008/misc137/08BisbeeAll.txt
Jeff Dinkin wrote on Oct 24, 2008 8:55 AM: