Australian wins race up New York's tallest building

An Australian has won the annual race up the Empire State Building which became New York's tallest skyscraper following the attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Paul Crake from Canberra ran up the building's 86 flights in 9.40 minutes.

The Empire State Building was New York's tallest when it was built in 1931. It lost that title in 1973 when Tower Two of the World Trade Centre was completed, standing 10ft higher than its neighbour at 1,368 feet.

The New York Post reports this year's race was fraught with memories of September 11 for the 160 runners who took part.

While climbing the 1,576 steps, firefighter Jules Pontecorvo said: "All I kept thinking about were the guys who died."

Mr Crake has taken part in more than 30 stair races round the world. Last year, he became the first runner to break the 10 minute barrier in the Empire State Building race, completing it in 9.37 minutes.