Melissa Moon hopes to floor Empire State race

ANDREW GORRIE/ The Dominion Post

RACE TO THE TOP: Melissa Moon trains in the stairwell at Wellington's Majestic Centre for the 86-floor-high Empire State Building Run-Up.

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Most visitors to the Empire State Building catch a lift to the top – but Melissa Moon will be taking the stairs.

The veteran mountain runner, 40, begins training today for the annual Empire State Building Run-Up, which is a race up the 86 floors – or 1576 stairs – to the New York landmark's observation deck. With just eight weeks to go until the invitation-only race in February, Moon plans to spend most of her time in the stairwells of Wellington's less lofty Majestic Centre, sprinting its 28 floors to the top five times in a row each session.

She has competed in stair races before, winning both the Towerthon at Kuala Lumpur's Menara tower and Auckland's Sky Tower Vertical Challenge. However, this is the first time she has trained especially for a stair-racing event.

"I've had to jack everything up with security – it's meant having to get swipe cards and let all the rest of the building know that this crazy blonde girl will be running up."

Moon aims to be the first New Zealander to win the race, which has been run every year since 1978. She is confident about her chances, saying the only thing that worries her is jockeying for a good position in the 150-strong pack at the start of the race.

"The girl who won it last year got injured in the start."

Moon will head to New York in late January in time for the February 2 race.