Philly author recounts "quiet moment" on Rocky steps

The intrigue: Vitez, who previously worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer, estimates running up the steps a thousand times to chase Rocky runners who had traveled from around the world to recreate that iconic moment.

• The 2006 book that Vitez co-authored with photojournalist Tom Gralish, "Rocky Stories," contains 52 vignettes of everyday people who made the pilgrimage for reasons ranging from love, to triumph over life-threatening diseases.

What they're saying: The son of Jewish immigrants who escaped the Holocaust, Vitez had his own "quiet moment" on the steps after inking the book deal.

• "I laughed to myself," he says, remembering those who doubted the idea.

Zoom in: Vitez, now director of narrative health at Temple's Lewis Katz School of Medicine, kept in touch with some people he profiled, including a man who ran the steps four years after receiving a life-saving heart transplant at Temple.

Yes, but: Vitez still laments one runner who got away — an Ivy League rower who ran naked to prove a point to a risk-averse roommate.

• The man wouldn't go on record, not wanting to embarrass his roommate who was from a well-known family, Vitez says.

What we're watching: In true Rocky fashion, Vitez is considering writing a sequel to the book.

• "Maybe it'll go another 50 years," Vitez says of the running tradition.