GREAT STAIRCASE
CHASE
Supporting Our Veterans Step By Step
The Great Staircase Chase is a joint event between the YMCA of the Foothills and Glendale Community College, benefitting the health and wellness of our communities’ Military Veterans. Proceeds will provide scholarships to make YMCA membership accessible to Veterans living in the Glendale/Foothills community or current students at GCC for little to no cost. Additional funding will go towards supporting the VFW Post 1614 in La Crescenta.
Date
November 2024
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Time
10:00 am Open Division, 10:30 am Teams Division, 11:00 am Family Fun 1 Mile Run
Location
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Glendale Community College, Sartoris Field (Football Stadium)
Price
$250 for a team of 5, $50 for an individual runner, $25 for the Family Fun Run
Staircase Race Route
This unique 2-mile route winds through the beautiful, hilly Glendale Community College campus. The route starts on Sartorius Field as your first flight of stairs takes you through the football bleachers. From there, you will be challenged by the “Staircase to Heaven” flight next to the tennis courts and onto the grueling “Switchback Steps” climbing the GCC Parking Structure. Amazing views of downtown Glendale and Los Angeles await you at the top of the structure as you get a chance to recover during this stretch of a ½ gentle downhill portion of the course. Once your legs and lungs have recovered, the route will twist you through the GCC campus, switching between staircases and bridge crossings. When you think you can’t take another step, the final sprint through the Theater Arts Building and back onto Sartorius Field will help you finish strong. Runners will have to negotiate 38 flights of stairs, totaling 600 steps! The total elevation gain of 325 feet will have your legs and lungs working harder than they ever have.
Family Fun Run 1 Mile Course
This course is designed to allow families with young children to experience race day as well, without any of the stairs! The Family Fun Run will start on Sartorius Field and head north on the track to the football tunnel, moving past the newly built Vaquero Athletic Complex and gently winding around campus on this designed path. Participants will see the Library, Culinary Arts Department, and the newly built Science Building, then return to the field along a gentle downward slope. Family Fun Run participants should take the race at their speed, and strollers are highly encouraged!
