Climbers ‘Scale the Strat’ one step at a time

Justin M. Bowen

International climbers from Mexico City Sandra Nunez Castillo (left) and Javier Santiago (right) made the top 50 at Friday’s Scale the Strat race. 111 participants hustled up the Stratosphere to raise money for the American Lung Association of Southern Nevada.

By Mytae Carrasco (contact)

Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009 | 2 a.m.

UPDATED STORY: Washington man wins ‘Scale the Strat’ fundraiser

New York has the Empire State Building. Chicago has the Sears Tower. Las Vegas has the Stratosphere. In recent years, these giant buildings have become more than points of commerce that dot the sky: The trio, like other tall buildings across the country, are playing host to races to the top.

Nationwide, skyscraper races are becoming increasingly popular, organizers said.

On Friday, about 110 participants climbed 108 floors and 1,455 stairs at the Stratosphere, showing that Las Vegas, despite being a rookie in the field of competitive skyscraper races, is gaining a reputation for being more than an adult playground.

The “Scale the Strat” event is a two-day climb to raise money for the Southern Nevada Lung Association, and $63,931 has been raised so far. The money will help fund lung health research, education and advocacy.

Climbers came from Nevada and nine other states; two had traveled from Mexico City.

The rules are simple: Climbers head up the stairs with one-minute intervals separating them, no electronics are allowed, and, most importantly, there’s no turning back once the assigned climb time has started. The only exceptions are for medical emergencies. The 50 fastest climbers were to return Saturday to compete again.

On Friday, competitors appeared more or less in good spirits as they stretched, shared climbing techniques and readied for their start times. There was some chatter buzzing about Javier Santiago from Mexico City, the three-time winner of the city’s Torre Mayor race. He’s taken fourth place in the Sears Tower race and eighth in the Empire State building.

Despite the hype, the 123-pound, 37-year old climber said he was as calm as could be before heading up the tower.

“It's impossible for me not to get tired -- anybody would get tired. I think I’m an athlete that has a very low pain threshold,” Santiago said. “But the mindset that I have makes me continue and that’s the reality.

“There are two people at that moment: Javier Santiago the athlete and Javier Santiago the trainer. The trainer tells him continue because your heartbeat can take more and then the athlete says, ‘Hey, it’s hurting.’ The trainer orders him to keep going and that’s what happens.”

Not all participants exuded the same confidence as Santiago. Regan Stokes, of Las Vegas, has a resume for success: She’s the co-chair for the American Diabetes Association’s annual Las Vegas Tour De Cure cycling event, coach of a bicycling program, a marathon runner and general athlete, but she said she was a little nervous being in new territory.

As she readied for her climb time, Stokes said her goal was “getting to the top without falling, not freaking out about the heights and just making sure that I give myself a good enough pace to get to the top without feeling like I’m going to die.”

She ultimately came in 79th place with a time of 15:13.

“It was hard on the lungs. My ears were popping a lot in there but it wasn’t so bad on the legs … but the lungs. A couple times I slowed down and stopped at one of the turns just to be able to breathe again,” she said. “It’s definitely unlike anything I’ve ever done, that’s for sure.”

Santiago was the first climber to scramble up the steps. He dashed up the stairs and by the third flight he was out of earshot. Sixty seconds later, the second runner began the ascent two steps at a time. After that, one-by-one, competitors started the climb. By the time the elevator arrived to take spectators to the top, Santiago was already there with a climb time of 8:01.

“Today is just the elimination -- tomorrow is the good part,” he said, smiling. “When I started feeling the fatigue I slowed my pace down. Tomorrow, I want to perform under eight minutes.”

Eric Leninger, a second-year law student from Geneva, Ill., found himself lying down, getting some help from the oxygen tank. Leninger won the Sears Tower Climb in 2007 and placed fifth in the men’s ranking last year. He came in third on Friday with a time of 8:10.

Byron Williams was one of the 61 people eliminated on Friday. He used the bleachers at Western High school to train for his first climb. He participates in martial arts and plays basketball. He said his asthma was not going to stand in the way of trying something physically challenging.

Williams had said he was striving to make it to the top in 12 minutes. He said he wasn’t disappointed with his time of 15:03.

“The fact that I had so many people who were gracious enough to believe in me and also donate to me in order to help out the American Lung Association is what kept me going,” he said. “There were moments when I was actually walking and I thought there is no turning back, no way of going the other way.”

Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and the climb begins at 1 p.m.