Originally Posted by
mcours2006
Twenty flights of stairs can be walked at a leisurely pace in less than 10 minutes by anyone who's in moderately good aerobic condition. I don't know where you're getting the half an hour thing, but if it takes you 30 minutes to climb 20 flights of stairs, best to take the elevator. The CN Tower, which is about 1500 vertical feet, takes most people about 30 minutes to do.
Two hundred feet of climbing in 2.5 miles is equivalent to a 1.5% grade, and can be done, again, by someone in moderately good condition in 10 minutes.
You're right about how long it should take to climb 20 flights of stairs. I used 30 minutes since that's the OP said it took for his climb.
Looking back, he actually took less time, since most of his 30 minutes were buned before the actual climb.
But it's not about any particular numbers, it's what each of us can do, and that varies tremendously person to person.