NEW YORK, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Ginette Bedard, a fit 74, said she was ready to climb another skyscraper after doing the 1,576 steps up the Empire State Building in New York.
Bedard had the best time in the 70-74 group Tuesday and finished 50th among all women in the 31st annual Empire State Building Run-Up, the New York Daily News reported.
Her time, 22 minutes and 12 seconds, was well behind the overall winner, Thomas Dold of Germany. But Dold, winning for the third year in a row, collapsed after reaching the observatory on the 86th floor in 10 minutes and 8 seconds, while Bedard was ready to rumble.
"I'm here, I'm alive. I made it!" she yelled.
Bedard, a marathon runner from Howard Beach, an outlying neighborhood in Queens, said she planned to be back next year.
Suzanne Walsham of Sydney, Australia, a runner 40 years younger than Bedard, was the fastest woman at 12 minutes, 44 seconds, winning her second consecutive Run-Up title.
"New York is a special place and this is a special building, so it's a huge achievement for me," Walsham told the Daily News.
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