"I grew up on the east mesa when nothing was paved beyond Morningside. Spent lots of time as a kid enjoying the west Sandia foothills. I have been up the La Luz several times and climbed up the west face to the TWA plane crash sight. Looked for but…"

"Thanks, Andrea, I'll ask them.  I was also wondering about the "Darth Vader" building in Uptown.  Both seem pretty tall, and all we need is access to the stairs."

"I agree - the trail is a bunch of long trails connected with switchbacks - not stair steps - it's not a staircase.  Just climbing up/down local mountain trails is plenty for this trip.  My friends and I did this trip when we were 18 -…"

"She said "uptown", not downtown.  Ask at the Marriott near uptown to see if you can get in their stair well. "

"Yes, good call"

"free parking out front or on first street"

"Check meetup.com.  I just did a quick search and found this: http://www.meetup.com/ABQ-running-club/"