Hundreds of sporting enthusiasts participated in the city’s first-every vertical run – climbing the 850 steps leading to the top of 31-storeyed World Trade Centre – as part of the Skyscraper Dash.
A majority of the 650-odd persons, who registered for the event completed the run successfully, said a spokesperson representing the organisers. “The event saw participants run around the Brigade Campus, Sheraton as well as the Orion Mall, a distance of 2.5km. The dash ended with a run up the 850 stairs all the way to the roof of the building where the finish line was placed”, said a statement. However, one of the participants, who fell out after reaching the 15th floor, said he found the climb “too challenging”.
Meanwhile, the Everest Challenge, a sub-event within the Skyscraper Dash attracted marathon runners of the City. The participants of this sub event had to run up the 850 steps of the building a total of 70 times (equal to the height of Mount Everest) by forming groups of 10 and splitting the climb between all of them to earn the necessary rankings to complete the race.
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This event was won by Vikee Parikh and his team. They were awarded medals and a cash prize of Rs. 20,000. “We practiced a lot for this event. When we formed the team we were determined to win. We have participated in several other marathons. Vertical running is unique and challenging. We even did trial run of this earlier last week,” he said.Ajay Gupta, founder, Sport365 and event organizer said: “Bangalore is the perfect place to arrange these kinds of events as it has an active set of sporting enthusiasts. .”