KUALA LUMPUR – National tower-runner Soh Wai Ching has won his 20th consecutive competition after coming in first at the Subida Vertical Gran Hotel Bali in Benidorm, Spain.
It was a close fight for Wai Ching as his time of 4min 33sec was just a second quicker than second place finisher Fabio Ruga from Italy, who was followed by Japan’s Ryoji Watanabe with his time of 4min 44sec.
Being crowned overall champion and collecting 120 points in the 2023 Towerrunning Tour Calendar, the win in Spain also makes it Wai Ching’s third title in Europe this year.
Wai Ching was not far off the course record for the 52-storey building (924 steps), currently held by Germany’s Christian Riedl with a time of 4min 20sec.
“This is my second time joining this competition. The first time was before the pandemic in 2019,” Wai Ching said in a statement.
“I finished second the last time and was four seconds behind Gorge Heimann from Germany.”
Recently, Wai Ching made history by setting the record for the “Farthest Simulated Distance Climbed on a Stair Machine in One Hour,” with a distance of 1.649km, equivalent to four KL Towers.
Meanwhile, female tower-runner Chan Yee Chin came in 13th place in the women’s elite category with a time of 7min 34sec.
“I started to feel exhausted on the 25th floor, I slowed down and my legs started to feel tired,” she said.
“But the support from the crew and participants towards the final few floors motivated me to keep pushing.”
The women’s elite category was won by Slovakia’s Kamila Chomanicova who set a time of 5min 53sec, followed by Germany’s Verena Schmitz who was just a second behind. – The Vibes, April 23, 2023
