Shaun Stephens-Whale has lofty expectations for this year's Empire State Building run-up.
The Roberts Creek runner heads to New York tomorrow (Saturday) to begin preparations for the annual event set for Tuesday, Feb. 5, in the Big Apple.
Last year Shaun finished 13th overall in a time of 12:43. His goal this year is to finish under 11 minutes and hopefully crack the top 10 or better.
"Last year I got boxed in at the start and that hurt my time and my finish," he said. "This year I hope to get a better start and with that a much better finish."
The event is a prestigious one, bringing together elite competition from across North America and the world."It's a unique event. It's a world landmark. The media loves it because it's a mass start race and it's so different from anything else," he said.
He's been training hard for New York, running the stairs at Wreck Beach at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and running up and down the stairs at the Plaza Hotel in Vancouver.
"I went up the hotel four times this morning (Monday) and it went really well. I didn't feel tired. I think I'm ready," Shaun said.
Shaun is coming off his first year with the cross country team at UBC and is now starting the track and field season. He said he was happy with his first year with the team.
"It didn't go bad. I looked at it as a learning experience," he said. "There are not a lot of expectations out of first year athletes. I learned a lot and I'm ready for better results next year."
Following New York, Shaun said he hopes to take part in Climb the Wall: the StairClimb for Clean Air at the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel, but that may not happen due to conflicts with the UBC track team.
"I'd like to compete because I know I could smash the record, but it might not work out due to my schedule. We'll just have to see how it goes," he said.
