News28 Oct 2004


On the up

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View of Chicago from the top of Sears Tower (© Getty Images)

Athletics is arguably the most universal of all sports, and certainly offers the potential sportsman or woman a greater variety of activities from which to chose than any other recreation, and nothing more exemplifies that fact than the extreme discipline of Tower running.

Head for heights

This is not an event for the faint hearted and if you are the type of runner who instinctively feels off-colour when your coach or training colleagues mention the prospect of a hill running session, then look away now!

There are between 20 to 30 races held annually around the world where runners take the opportunity to test their physical and mental strength by racing, yes, racing, up some of the highest buildings and towers in the world.

Two of the most famous of these races are those run up the Menara Tower in Kuala Lumpur and the Sears Tower in Chicago, and both are getting ready to host their 2004 editions.

KL International Towerthon which takes place up the Menara Kuala Lumpur, the fourth tallest telecommunications tower in the world at 421 metres, was first held in 1998. It also doubles as the World Tower Run Championship, which had its first edition in 2002.

A lot of stairs to climb
 
The race covers some 800m run uphill, moving on to the stairs at the upper Ground Floor, running up the 2058 stairs and finishing at the Tower Head Level 3 or more fondly known as the Mega View Banquet Deck at 288m above Kuala Lumpur. The 2004 edition is scheduled for 12 December 2004.

Closer to hand is the Go Vertical Chicago 2004 event on 14 November which will be run up Sears Tower which at 442m is the third highest building in the world.  
 
Participants start in the lobby of the Sears Tower and climb 103 stories to its famous Skydeck for the best views in Chicago. Comprising 2109 stairs this is the longest vertical stair climb in the world.

For charity

As ever a terrific amount of sponsorship is taken out by the runners in order to raise money for charity, in the case of this year's Sears Tower event it will be to support the most brilliant and creative young scientists in the nation dedicated to finding new answers for all forms of cancer.

A serious business

But don’t imagine that tower running is not also taken very seriously by the competitors. These events are no mere 'fun runs' in more than one sense of the phrase. There is even a web site dedicated to this mad running pastime: http://www.towerrunning.com

The site lists 30 elite international runners who regularly take part in such climbs, and you don’t find much more serious a running talent than one of the true addicts, New Zealand’s four-time World mountain running champion Jonathan Wyatt who finished 21st in the Athens Olympic Marathon in 2:17:43.

Elite runners, good causes, and a slice of total madness. It is hard to argue against the attraction of that combination in any athletics event.

Chris Turner for the IAAF

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