In a record field of 2,100 competitors, German Matthias Jahn and Australian Suzy Walsham won the Swissotel Vertical Marathon in Singapore on Sunday, semi final of the eight-race Vertical World Circuit® . Seventy-three storeys and 1,336 steps were the sum of the challenge faced by the runners up the 226metre-high tower, one of the tallest hotels in South East Asia.Jahn’s time of 7’16” was 20 seconds short of world champion Thomas Dold’s record set here in 2009. Second was Italian Emanuele Manzi in 7’19” and third, Belgian Omar Bekkali in 7’38”.
Suzy Walsham, a Singapore resident and four-times winner of the event, was in great shape this year beating her previous record by six seconds with a time of 8’23”. Walsham is also a three-time winner of New York’s Empire State Building Run-Up . Italian Valentina Belotti was second in 8’43” and New Zealander and standing Vertical World Circuit® champion Melissa Moon, third in 9’01”. Moon also stakes a claim as the 2010 winner of the Empire State Building Run-Up.
The current Vertical World Circuit® ranking is led by reigning champion, Thomas Dold, followed by Italian Fabio Ruga and Omar Bekkali. In the women’s category, Italy leads the way with Cristina Bonacina and Valentina Belotti first and second and Melissa Moon, third. Skyscraper racing, governed by the International Skyrunning Federation, is becoming increasingly popular: in 2010 more than 7,000 runners from 30 countries took part in the Vertical World Circuit® which unites some of the world’s most iconic skyscraper races in eight capitals across four continents, from the Americas to the heart of Europe and the Far East.
After New York, Basel, London, Taipei, Berlin, Milan and Singapore, the Vertical World Circuit® moves on to the Corrida Vertical in San Paolo, Brazil where the 2011 champions will be crowned.
For race info and photos: www.swissotelverticalmarathon.com
See www.verticalrunning.org for full ranking