Successful premiere for the DC Tower Run

The stairclimbing race returns to Vienna with the premiere of the DC Tower Run: more than 650 runners, as well as the global elite of the Towerrunning World Association (TWA) tackled 1,450 steps to reach the 58th floor of the DC Tower, Austria’s tallest office building. Among the TWA professionals, Ryoji Watanabe (JPN) and Valentina Belotti (ITA) came out ahead of their competition. “It’s a format that totally makes people want to come back for more, and, for the athletes in our Tower community, it was a fun change from their normal work routine”.

The event was inaugurated by Deputy County Commissioner of Vienna Karl Gasta. Soon thereafter, the 650 amateur athletes began the first ever race up the DC Tower, Austria’s tallest office building. They had 1,450 steps to climb to the 58th floor. The fastest amateur runners took just about seven minutes. Among the participants were Miss Austria 2003 Tanja Duhovich, teams from the Vienna fire service, the Vienna national police directorate, the WEGA (Vienna’s special police force) unit as well as from the Federal Ministry of Justice and the correctional system.

The race of the global stair-climbing elite as part of the official Towerrunning World Association (TWA) competition also brought a number of big names to Vienna. All the medal winners from the recent Tower Running World Championship in Taipeh were there at the starting line at the bottom of the DC Tower – including the current third-place holder in the men’s race, Mark Bourne (AUS). In the men’s competition, Ryoji Watanabe (JPN) finished in 05:47.2, beating out Wai Ching Soh (MAS, 05:58.0) and third-place winner Fabio Ruga (ITA, 05:59.6). Among the women, Valentina Belotti (ITA) came out in the lead with a time of 07:15.1, ahead of Annemarie Wilhem (GER, 07:35.5) and Klaudia Krajewska (POL, 07:35.7) in second and third place.

The accompanying programme involving the DC Tower was also impressive. Aside from the presentation of Vienna’s first fully electric fire engine and a WEGA emergency vehicle, the most popular attraction was an exercise by a special unit team in which they rappelled down from the 60th floor, drawing countless spectators to the Danube plateau. For Tower Manager David Friedl, the occasion was an all-around success: “This sporting event was completely uncharted territory for us, and the venture has paid off. That much is already clear from the overwhelmingly positive feedback that we’re getting from the runners. “It’s a format that totally makes people want to come back for more, and, for the athletes in our Tower community, it was a fun change from their normal work routine”, said Friedl. The Tower Run was also an opportunity to bring charity to the forefront, as Friedl presented a check for 4,000 Euro to Andrea Kerssenbrock of E.Motion Lichtblickhof children’s hospice with animals.