Runners race up staircase in HRE

Sixteen determined runners assembled in the lobby of High Rise East at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, ready to begin a climb -- billed as "450 Steps to Glory" -- up the building's center stairwell to the Rooftop Lounge. Engineering junior Jean-Philippe Gouigoux, a French exchange student from Compiegne, organized this first annual International Program High Rise Stairwell Challenge. Before the race began, he warned participants to "please warm up, because it's very tiring." A runner himself, Gouigoux occasionally completes his daily track workout with a sprint up to his room on the 19th floor. John McDonald, director of the Living Learning International Program, began the race by announcing that the winners would hold the standing world record for this event. The race was run in a time trial format, with runners starting at one minute intervals from the outside door leading into the center staircase. Engineering junior John Blouin won the race with a time of one minute, 49 seconds. Blouin, a member of the track and cross country teams, said he ran up the stairs twice in preparation, but that it only tired him out "for a few minutes." College junior Ayako Tsuzuku brought up the rear with a final time of five minutes and 35 seconds. Tsuzuku, one of the two female participants, said she had "intended to walk up." Although McDonald cautioned that "after 14 floors you start breathing like you're 100 years old," all runners arrived at the top without injury. Of the 16 participants, five were members of the International Program. But McDonald stressed that the event had been open to the entire University community. Blouin and College junior Scarlett Goon, the men's and women's first-place runners, received gift certificates for dinner for two at the New Dehli restaurant. The second and third place runners received gift certificates to Boston Chicken and McDonald's respectively. The event was sponsored by Residential Living, which provided bagels and juice for the contestants. The race was beset by a few problems. McDonald had initially planned to begin the race in front of High Rise North but modified the plan due to the narrow staircases and the potential inconvenience to High Rise East residents. In addition, when McDonald arrived at the Rooftop Lounge at 9 a.m. he found eight people asleep there. The police removed them before the event began. McDonald said he hopes to repeat the event in the fall, with computerized score-keeping and more publicity. Gouigoux said he had tried to organize races in his university and city in France, but had found little support. "This is the result of a French idea, American organization, and international participation," he explained.

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