The stairs in Shaun Stephens-Whale's home have been getting quite a workout lately.
The 14-year-old from Roberts Creek has been busy training for the B.C. Lung Association's third annual Climb The Wall: The StairClimb For Clean Air. That training paid off - big time - on Feb. 8 as the youngster shattered his own record and won the event.
Stephens-Whale climbed the stairs at the Vancouver Wall Centre in a blistering time of four minutes and 32 seconds - that's 500 vertical feet, 48 floors and 739 stairs.
He won by 18 seconds over his nearest competitor and broke his time from last year, which was five minutes and 28 seconds.
He said his training regimen included sprinting up his stairs 50 times every day for five intensive weeks.
Stephens-Whale said he was confident he would not only be the fastest person but could also eclipse the existing record of four minutes, 55 seconds set in last year's event.
"I just trained a lot on my stairs," he said. "I like challenging myself and striving to do better."
Besides winning the event, Stephens-Whale will likely again be this year's top individual fund-raiser. Already he has collected $2,174 in donations from more than 140 sponsors, family and friends on the Sunshine Coast. Last year he was able to fund-raise just over $1,900.
"There is still money coming in, and we have until March 6 to collect all the money," said his dad Ian Whale. "We're all really proud of Shaun and what he's been able to accomplish. He sets his goals very high and he doesn't give up until he's achieved them."
Each participant in Climb The Wall receives incentive prizes for raising money for lung health research, tobacco education, and clean air programs. More than 300 participants took part in this year's event.
Stephens-Whale first found out about the climb when he saw information about the event on the Internet and thought joining a B.C. Lung Association event would be a good way to help other asthmatics like him. He is now setting his sights on the April Fool's Run here on the Sunshine Coast and is thinking about loftier goals, maybe conquering the Empire State Building in New York or the CN Tower in Toronto.
