As the weather outside was cool with a crisp wind, inside the Cathedral of Learning the heat… As the weather outside was cool with a crisp wind, inside the Cathedral of Learning the heat was on. Saturday morning, 58 participants came out for the Cathedral Climb sponsored by Pitt Program Council.

Starting on the ground the floor of the building, the participants were racing to the top for prizes totaling more than $900. Awards were given in three separate categories: individual male, individual female and a four-member relay event in which each member runs up nine flights of stairs.

The participants stood in a clumped group as they listened to instructions from PPC recreation director Rebecca Yates. Some looked nervous, cracking fingers and twisting and stretching their bodies into odd positions. Others laughed with friends and adjusted their sweatbands and shoelaces seconds before they were set to go.

First year medical students Kate Schmidt, Emily Gottshall and Dan Kraus were among the individual racers. They described the feeling of the crowd before the race began.

“It was a much bigger event that I had thought it was going to be. I thought it would be a smaller group,” Gottshall said.

To prepare for the climb, PPC had to seek help from many. Each stair of all 36 flights had to be cleaned to ensure safety for the quick pace of the runners. The Red Cross and paramedics were also stationed through the course in case of any injuries. The elevator operator was there to take nonparticipants and relay members directly to any floor. SERJRacing Services from Uniontown, Pa., helped with the timing and final results of the finishers. The stage was set for a successful climb.

The individual runners went first. They were placed into heats of two and set to start a minute apart. On the 36th floor, volunteers awaited the arrival of the runners with nervous anticipation and bottled water.

“Here they come!” shouted a volunteer.

As everyone heard the footsteps of the first finisher – who was not necessarily the winner due to the timing of the heats – they stopped talking and intensely stared at the doorway from which the runners would emerge.

The volunteers clapped and congratulated Chris Curd, the first finisher of the day. Sweating and breathing hard, Curd smiled broadly and accepted the water quickly.

Curd, a junior and member of the football team, did the race to help out with his football conditioning.

“It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but it was a lot of fun. It was really dry in the hallways, like a desert, it was really dusty. All you could hear was yourself breathing,” Curd said.

As more people finished, the small area became crowded with red-faced runners, all patting one another on the back and asking how they each felt about the run. Despite climbing the 36 flights, few seemed tired. Some sat on benches or walked to the window to admire the view, but most did not show a sign of fatigue and kept moving around with an air of proud energy.

Even though some admitted the race hurt, all had smiles and positive looks on their faces when they finished. As he pumped his arms in the air and grinned wildly, freshman Bevon Fraser said, “That’s hell.” Fraser represented the Pitt crew team that had seven participants in the race.

“The best parts of the race were the last two flights and having the relay members on every ninth floor. They were really encouraging to all of us,” Schmidt said.

In the end, all seemed happy with their performances, but only a few could take home the prize money. The individual male and female winners, Brenton Hull and Alissa Hull, are brother and sister.

Alissa, a sophomore, is training for the Pittsburgh marathon in May and used the climb as practice.

“The best thing about the race was finishing it,” she said.

Brenton, a freshman, did not prepare much for the race, but thought it would still be a good challenge and the win surprised him.

“In the beginning you realize that you are only on the 11th floor and still have so many to go. It is really a mental race,” he said.

Four Sigma Chi fraternity brothers won the relay division. Sophomores Jesse Lindsay, Tom Giarratano, Jeff Motter and Geoff Bristol sprinted their way to victory in 2 minutes, 53 seconds.

“It was a lot of fun and we did it a lot faster than we expected,” Lindsay said.

Following Alissa Hull’s first place finish in the women’s competition, medical students Gottshall and Schmidt placed second and third respectively. In the men’s competition, behind Brenton Hull were William McCoy in second place and Matt Greig in third. The group that won second place in the relay, coming in only two seconds behind the winners, was comprised of Regis Nelis, Andy Muray, Nick Krizah and Anthony Delsignore.