Poland’s Piotr Lobodzinski (left) and Austria’s Andrea Mayr were crowned men’s and women’s 2015 Towerrunning Champions respectively at the Aspire Zone yesterday.
By Sports Reporter/Doha
After a thrilling two days of competition at the Aspire Torch Staircase Run, it was Poland’s Piotr Lobodzinski and Austria’s Andrea Mayr who made history as the first ever winners of the Towerrunning World Championships, with Australia taking the team gold yesterday at the Torch Hotel in Doha.
The race is the only one of its kind to be officially organised in the Middle East and highlights the Aspire Zone’s efforts to continue to organise events that promote a healthy lifestyle, encourage the community to be active and also encourage participants to push themselves to their physical limit.
After the qualification races on Friday, both Lobodzinksi and Mayr were on pole position for the F1-style mass start, and despite the strongest fields ever assembled in a stair race, maintained their positions to the top. “The race today was very tough” said Mayr “but I am very happy to win here.”
In the men’s race, Lobodzinski also entered the building first, but was never challenged and went on to take the win by 17 seconds in 6:35. “I am very happy to be the winner of the first ever Towerrunning World Championships”, said the Polish star, “It was perfect race for me”.
The Aspire Torch Staircase Run, a highpoint on the International Tower Runners’ calendar, included a two day race programme with three heats comprising of different distances and competition modes. More than 500 runners including 100 athletes from around the globe participated in this fantastic event, as the challenging route consisted of a total of 1,304 steps and runners had to make their way to the top of the 300 metre tower on the 51st floor, depending on the race stage.
Runners from a number of categories were recognised for their outstanding achievements. These categories included: Men and Women, Under 21, Open 40+, 50+ and the Fastest Overall. Australia bagged the award for fastest Towerruning country team.
Khalid Abdullah al-Sulaiteen, CEO of Aspire Zone honoured the winners along with Ali al-fehaidi, Acting Director General of Aspire Logistics; Sebastian Wurster, President of the Towerrunning World Association (TWA); and Daniel Cencetka, Vice President of TWA.
Al-Sulaiteen said: “Aspire Zone is proud to be hosting the 2015 Towerrunning World Championship after competing with the Empire State Building in New York City to win this event. Hosting and organising such competitions proves that Qatar is able to perform and represent such events on a global scale. I would like to thank the Towerrunning World Association for choosing Aspire Zone as well as congratulations to all winners today, you should be incredibly proud of your results. I am also very happy to have the local community participate in this event with over 400 competing from Qatar.”
Wurster, President of the TWA, thanked the Aspire Zone team for their commitment in pulling together the event as well as their excellent organisation. Wurster extended his congratulations to all of the international runners as well as the local participants.
The Aspire Torch Staircase Run was awarded official Grand Prix status and attracted 350 runners including some of the best international stair runners from Europe, the US and Australia and is supported by Al Kass, Qatar Living and The Torch Doha.
Towerrunning is one of the fastest growing sports and a striking trend in the running scene as Towerunning competitions are held in 40 countries around the world. Throughout 2014, more than 110,000 athletes and running enthusiasts climbed towers, skyscrapers and outdoor stairs to experience this special challenge.