Sometimes, late at night in the hospital when no one is around to bear witness, Dr. Peter Murphy will see an open elevator door just waiting for a passenger.

"It does look relatively attractive," Murphy, 62, concedes.

Yet commitment triumphs over convenience every time. Murphy, a pulmonologist at Mercy San Juan Medical Center, made a vow nearly eight years ago to eschew the elevator at work in favor of the stairs.

Call it a gesture for health – the man is, after all, a doctor specializing in breathing issues – but also another in a series of physical challenges Murphy has undertaken.

Compared with the marathons Murphy has run and the legs of the Tour de France that he's ridden with friends on vacations, taking the stairs would seem a rather pedestrian accomplishment.

"Yes, but that's the thing," Murphy says. "When most people in this country think about exercise, they think all or nothing – going out and running marathons. Frankly, probably 30 minutes of exercise five days a week would be incredibly helpful to most people's well-being."

To promote this idea – and raise money and awareness for the American Lung Association – Murphy and two colleagues will participate Saturday in the Fight for Air Climb, a 32-story race up the tallest office tower in Sacramento (the Hines building, 400 Capitol Mall).

"Maybe this climbing-the-tower thing might motivate a few people," says Murphy, who'll be joined on Mercy's team by Dr. Stephen Maxwell, a thoracic surgeon; and medical center president Brian Ivie.

The race aside, Murphy just wants people at work or at shopping malls or hotels to stop taking the lazy person's way up (the elevator, the escalator) and get vertical under human power.

"My idea is, basically, to incorporate exercise into your life," he says. "I think, frankly, that it's way, way easier done than most people think.

"For instance, try parking your car at the farther end of the parking lot instead of up close. Think about walking where we now use cars and other modalities of transport. You can very easily, with very minimum effort, incorporate a substantial amount of exercise into your life and do it in a relatively non-intrusive, non- boring way."

At the six-story Mercy San Juan, Murphy works on the second floor. But he's up and down a lot, making rounds to various floors.

"Our lounge is on the sixth floor, and many of our medical floors are higher up," he says. "In my practice, it's not unusual to go from the first floor to the sixth floor five times a day, sometimes considerably more (often). Over time, this would clearly add up."

Murphy's stair-taking occasionally draws stares from co-workers unaware of his resolution, which has been in place since Jan. 1, 2002. Sometimes, colleagues will hold the elevator doors for Murphy and motion for him to join them.

"I'll explain that I've been doing this for years and, as much as I'd love to join them, I can't break the resolution now," he says.

Throughout the streak, Murphy has noticed more and more Mercy staff members taking the stairs. On a good day, he says, there's a steady flow of traffic climbing and descending the steps.

"I was surprised yesterday that one of our discharge planners was coming up with me and was remarkably well conditioned," Murphy says. "We get pretty much daily reminders of the facts of life here at the hospital."

Murphy says the stairs at Mercy San Juan are convenient and in good shape. The same can't be said for stairs in many of the nation's office buildings.

Building designers apparently haven't been stair-friendly, according to a study published in last summer's Southern Medical Journal. Co-authors Dr. Ishak A. Mansi of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, and his wife, architect Nardine M. Mansi, called for builders to make the stairs the star of office buildings, department stores and the like.

"Stairs are frequently hidden from entrances, with only small signs denoting their locations, typically in connection to the fire exit," the authors wrote.

They said fire exits are usually guarded by heavy doors, not carpeted and not air-conditioned. They report that architects find it challenging to comply with current building codes, which emphasize fire safety and accessibility. "As a result," the report concluded, "a conscious focus on health does not enter the design process."

So, what exactly can designers do to make stairs more attractive to people who are used to riding up and down?

The authors suggest installing carpeting and air conditioning. And at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta, officials found that playing music in stairwells and displaying motivational signs significantly increased the use of stairs.

But if any music is played at the Fight for Air Climb, it's likely to be the "Rocky" theme.

Call The Bee's Sam McManis, (916) 321-1145. FIGHT FOR AIR CLIMB When: First wave of runners starts at 8:45 a.m. Saturday. To register or sponsor a runner: www.kintera.org/faf/home/ default.asp?ievent=316059 Information: (916) 554-5864