JLT conquered in 7mts 9 secs
dubai — Do you get tired after climbing a flight of stairs? Well, imagine having to climb up 52 floors.
A total of 400 adrenaline junkies climbed 1,334 steps of the iconic Jumeirah Emirates Towers as part of Dubai Holding’s SkyRun on Friday.
The Dubai race was the first one out of nine others for the 2017 World Vertical Circuit. The next ones will be in London, Paris, New York, Manila, Bejing, Syndey, Shanghai, Osaka and Hong Kong.
Piotr Lobodzinski from Poland scored first place again during the vertical run, finishing at 7 minutes and 9 seconds.
“I’m happy with my time because it’s nine seconds earlier than last year and the race was one month earlier this time so it shows that my shape is better than last year. As I defend my first place, I’m really happy to here. It’s very neatly organised and I hope to be back in 2018,” Lobodzinski said.
“The rest of the year will be really interesting. Because we just done this race, it’s a busy calendar and there many tall buildings.”
First place in the female category was scored by Suzy Walsham, with a time of 8 minutes and 16 seconds.
“It’s a pretty tough race. I had a really one. I think I was faster than last year, third overall, so really happy. It’s great to have a first win on the circuit this year. It’s going to be a long year, there’s a lot of great races so it’s good to get some points up on the board.
“There’s some amazing races and nice big buildings, which I kind of prefer. I’m looking forward to doing some new races this year. Definitely competing in five or six of them, so really looking forward to the year,” Walsham said.
Besides professionals, Dubai residents also participated in the race. Farhan Kafil, 36, took part in the race and beat the time he achieved last year. “The race went better for me then it did last year. I thought I’d make it better this year. The focus was finishing in time. I’ve been running on flat courses and I did the half marathon in Ras Al Khaimah. I’ve also done some of the other vertical races – the Al Mas Tower in Jumeirah lake Towers,” Kafil said.
Kafil finished with a time of 16 minutes and 45 seconds, beating last year’s score of 17 minutes and 45 seconds.
The next race will be at the Tower 42 in London, which has 42 floors and 932 steps, followed by the Tour First tower in Paris, with 52 floors and 954 steps.