700 Race To Top Of 4 World Trade Center For Cancer Charity

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- They're high steppers of a different sort. More than 700 people took the long way up at 4 World Trade Center on Thursday -- climbing the stairs.

They did it for the inaugural "Runyon Up," a fundraiser for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.

Elite climbers went first, leading the pack at the skyscraper. Participants could either tackle all 72 floors, or do a partial climb to the 54th floor.

The fastest male contender reached the 72nd floor in just under nine minutes. The first woman to the finish floor clocked in at just over 11 minutes.

Tower climbs are held in high-profile buildings around the world, including the Empire State Building.

The event is sanctioned, unlike a recent spate of thrill-seekers making unauthorized visits to the site.

Sixteen-year-old Justin Casquejo, of Weehawken, N.J., was arrested last month after getting through a hole in the fence surrounding the 1 WTC and taking the elevator to the spire. On Wednesday, a judge decided Casquejo would be assessed in a program for youthful offenders. He faces charges including criminal trespass.

Four skydivers were charged last month in connection with a BASE jump off the building on Sept. 30. Police said the four squeezed through a hole in a fence and climbed 104 flights of stairs before leaping from the tower. Surveillance video captured the men landing in front of the Goldman Sachs building.

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