One Month to Train, 1500 Stairs

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Those interested in one of Downtown’s most distinctive workouts have just under one month to train for this year’s Ketchum-Downtown YMCA Stair Climb to the Top. Participants in the annual fundraising event will climb the 1500 stairs from US Bank Tower’s parking garage to its 73-story high peak.

The climb’s site says that most participants will complete the course in 20 - 45 minutes. There is a competitive division, but in order to enter one must have placed in the top 25 of one of ten other climbs around North America. The record time for the “Elite Division” climbers? 9 minutes and 28 seconds.

Previous climbs have been held as a two-day event, with team events taking place on Friday and individual climbers making their runs on Saturday morning. 2008’s event changes things up, condensing the event into just Friday afternoon and evening.

The upside of the change should be an incredibly striking view. Individuals start the course at 6pm, and sunset in L.A. on September 26th is slated for 6:44pm.

Full details and registration information are available on the event website.