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Things are looking
up for firefighter

BY the time you read this -- barring a misplaced elbow, unforeseen exhaustion, massive stampeding or an attack of common sense -- Keith Daniel will have run up 86 flights of stairs.

Why, you ask? Well, the HFD firefighter from the Makiki Fire Station is going King Kong as one of more than 100 entrants in this year's Empire State Building Run-Up. This is the nation's elite, all-star, invitation-only stair-racing event.

You know the timeless Jean-Claude Van Damme classic cinematic masterpiece "Bloodsport"?

This is the kumite of stair-racing events.

"I'm joining the madness," Daniel said last week, before leaving for New York.

You could say that. More than 100 entrants. A mass start. A staircase 40 inches wide; 1,576 steps.

You do the math.

This is the 28th edition of the Empire State Building race. It's Daniel's first.

He's our state champ (he won a race up the First Hawaiian Bank tower last April), he's a firefighter.

He can't have any idea what he's getting into.

"I'm a rookie, new to this stuff. The native New Yorkers have the advantage," he said.

I have a sense of impending doom.

"Well, there's some etiquette, I'm sure," he said.

Oh, sure.

I can see it now.

Stair-racing etiquette from native New Yorkers.

But, true, they are a brotherhood, no doubt. And Daniel is tough. He's a firefighter. He's a triathlete -- he's done Tinman and rugged mountain bike events.

For four months, he's been training. He runs on railroad ties up Koko Crater, all the way to the top. He figures it's about the same length and time as the former tallest building in the world.

"It's steep, and then more steep, and then insane," he said.

He should be ready, but, he says, like any normal person, he sometimes finds himself winded while visiting a friend three flights up.

Nah, only joke.

We hope.

He's carrying Hawaii's banner in this. "That, I take seriously," he said. "Representing the (Fire) Department and everybody who helped make this happen."

He's our champ.

The Hawaii Firefighters Association, First Hawaiian Bank and Honolulu Triathlon are among those who came up with the cash to send him on this dream trip to race up New York's most famous skyscraper.

He's also racing for the Boys and Girls Club, raising money. "They've designed a race shirt for me," Daniel said. He was looking forward to wearing the uniform with pride.

"I'm excited," he said. It's another big race.

"I like the whole feeling, that morning right before the race, talking to all the competitors, getting into your zone."

Stair-racing was just another challenge.

It called to him when the Honolulu Triathlon organized the First Hawaiian Yes! Climb to the Top. Firefighters against cops. Daniel won, and Honolulu Triathlon's John Korff pounced. He had a protˇgˇ.

Korff is a stair-racing nut. He is the Empire State Building champion for his age group, 50-59. It was while running stairs that Korff came up with the brainstorm of bringing the United States Olympic triathlon team qualifier to Honolulu.

"He was my motivator and quote-unquote coach," Daniel said. "He does it and he loves it, he's got a passion for it."

That's an understatement.

And that passion has since been passed on to the guy running up Koko Crater.

The guys in the firehouse give Daniel a hard time. Good naturedly, of course. He's the new guy, the rookie. That's their job. (Daniel was happy, the other night, when they had to go out on a call just as a report on his big adventure was coming on during the evening news.)

But they're proud of him. They'll be cheering for him. They sent him with gifts to take to the stations of the national heroes at FDNY.

Some of those famous firefighters will have run up with him, today in New York.

By the time you read this, he'll have made it to the top.