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Rachel Jacqueline

Most people would do anything to avoid taking the stairs, but yesterday over 1,000 Hongkongers climbed 82 floors of the International Commerce Centre in Kowloon, the city's tallest building, as part of the SHKP Vertical Run for Charity.
That's 2,120 quad-sizzling steps.
It's not insanity, but a growing global sport called "vertical running" that attracts 100,000 participants in over 3,000 races around the globe each year.
Hong Kong is the final destination in the eight-stop global Vertical Running Circuit (VWC) that includes New York, Paris, Shanghai and Sao Paulo. And according to reigning female champion Suzy Walsham, it's the toughest one of the lot.
"Hong Kong is definitely the hardest. The bigger the building, the tougher it is," she said.

The ICC is 484 metres. By comparison, the Empire State Building in New York is 381 metres, with 1,576 stairs over 86 floors. Last year, it took Walsham 14 minutes and 32 seconds to make it to the top.
"In Hong Kong, you have to exit the stairwell three times and run around a floor to re-enter the stairs. There are also a lot more turns, making it difficult to get momentum.
"Last year, I didn't pace myself well, and was completely maxed out by halfway," she says.
Walsham was racing this year for the chance to be crowned the VWC world champion for the third year in a row and take home US$10,000. She achieved her goal yesterday with a time of 13 minutes and 47 seconds. Polish runner Piotr Lobodzinski won for the men.
The growth of the sport in the eight years since Walsham, 41, completed her first stair race has been incredible, she says.
"There are more races and more competitors than ever before. My first race in Singapore in 2006, there were only 600 runners. Now there are more than 2,000. Hong Kong will be my 13th stair race this year."

Vertical running has given the former Australian Commonwealth Games 800-metre semi-finalist a new lease on running.
Apart from the fitness benefits of the sport - an hour running stairs can burn 500 calories - the personal challenge is an attraction, she says.
"It's not like in a track or road race, where it's tactical, where you can back off and make up for it later. You are red-lining it the whole time. If someone is going to pass you, there is nothing you can do about it.
"The real race is between you and the building. Your legs feel like jelly, your heart is beating out of your chest and you are breathing heavily - it's an adrenaline rush."
Walsham, who lives in Singapore and trains four times a week in various stairwells, believes the sport is the perfect choice for those living vertical lives, especially in Asia.


Going up! Vertical racers brave 2,120 steps to reach top of HK's tallest building

Competitors outside the 484-metre International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon. Photo: Dickson Lee

Australian Darren Wilson crosses the finish line with obvious joy yesterday. Photo: Dickson Lee

Thomas Kwok (2nd left), of sponsors SHKP, takes part in the run. Photo: Dickson Lee

News

Hong Kong

Most people would do anything to avoid taking the stairs, but on Sunday over 1,000 Hongkongers climbed 82 floors of the International Commerce Centre in Kowloon as part of the SHKP Vertical Run for Charity.
