bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Stuart Lau

For competitive sportswoman Melissa Moon, buildings are not just nondescript concrete blocks - they are vertical racing challenges.
The "queen of stairs" - who hails from Wellington, New Zealand, and was a one-time Hong Kong resident - revels in what she calls a "mind game in an enclosed space".
"I like stair races best," said Moon, 43, who is also a veteran of mountain races and marathons.
"Racing in an enclosed environment where the only sound you can hear is the athletes' breathing … it's more about a mind game.
The stair-racing champion is in Hong Kong - which she calls her "second home", where she spent five years as a child - to prepare for a 92-storey run next month up the city's tallest skyscraper, the International Commerce Centre.
In February, Moon won the women's category - for the second time - in the 86-storey race up the Empire State Building in New York. She first tasted victory at the top of the building in 2010.
On Sunday, Moon had a bird's-eye view of Hong Kong from the 100th floor of the ICC, the finishing line for the race on December 2.
Of her childhood years spent in the city between the ages of six and 11, Moon told the South China Morning Post: "That was a time of freedom."
She said she lived in Pok Fu Lam in the 1970s. "I remember paying visits to Repulse Bay and Stanley Market," she said.
Her father taught law at the University of Hong Kong, but Moon's life went beyond just the city's expatriate community.
"My amah lived in Wah Fu Estate and I always visited the area," said Moon, a teacher by profession. The tallest building in Hong Kong at the time, she recalled, was the Connaught Centre, now known as Jardine House.
Moon said the design of the ICC's staircase would give racers a boost as runners have to turn 90 degrees every six steps. "So psychologically, participants feel like they've finished more storeys," she said.
The December race is jointly organised by ICC's developer, Sun Hung Kai Properties, and the Community Chest.


'Queen of stairs' Melissa Moon all game for race to the top

Melissa Moon is in Hong Kong to prepare for her 92-storey run up the International Commerce Centre next month. Photo: Nora Tam

News

Hong Kong