Taipei 101 to host Towerrunning World Championships in May

2018/02/22

Taiwan’s landmark Taipei 101 will host the 2nd Towerrunning World Championships May 5, offering elite athletes from home and abroad a challenging course spanning 2,046 stairs to the building’s 91st floor at a vertical height of 390 meters.
 
 Co-organized by skyscraper operator Taipei Financial Center Corp. and Austria-headquartered Towerrunning World Association, the event will feature 100 leading stair runners competing for first prizes of 3,000 euros (US$3,700) in the men’s and women’s categories. The TWA has awarded the race its highest difficulty rating of 280.
 
 In addition to the elite competition, Taipei 101 will also host a public event the same day for up to 5,000 participants. Registration is set to open in April.
 
 TFCC spokesman Michael Liu said the championships build on the success of the annual Taipei 101 Run Up, a fixture of Taiwan’s sporting calendar since its launch in 2005 and one of the TWA’s leading tour races since 2014.
 
 Last year, the Run Up was designated the association’s Asian and Oceanian Towerrunning Championships, attracting around 4,500 local and foreign participants. Mark Bourne from Australia won the men’s title in 11 minutes and 24 seconds, while fellow Australian Suzy Walsham claimed the women’s race with a time of 13 minutes and 36 seconds.
 
 According to Liu, the world championships will further promote the skyscraper internationally and boost Taiwan’s tourism sector. TFCC plans to develop travel packages in collaboration with hotels and stores in Taipei City to encourage sports enthusiasts to visit the country for the public event, he added.
 
 Founded in 2013, the TWA is the international governing body for stair running. The first edition of the organization’s Towerrunning World Championships took place in Doha, Qatar, in 2015.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=10&post=129704)