Swissôtel Vertical Marathon 2007 Conquered once again

Today, I conquered the 73 Storey Swissôtel The Stamford again. Ö

This time round, I competed in the 20 to 29 age group category again but with 1 of my friends KT whom is a first-timer this year. The registration for our category started around 7.30 am. However we need to wait till 9+am for our race to start since there are some other categories before us.

This year, each detail was flagged off from the starting point in a group of 6 person at a time instead of 8 person when I participated in the race 2 years ago. In addition, the organizing committee also removed the intermediate water points that used to be present in the past for safety reason. I think this is better this way as it will not be too packed or crowded inside the confined staircase and also the staircase will be wetted and slippery caused by runners drinking water in between the race. However I think some still need water in the process. Ü

As usual, I used my normal technique of jogging slightly slower at the start behind the fast runners in front; climbing 2 steps at a time at the staircase area and overtaking the runners in front when I could. However it is really common that everyone gets tired and leg aching at a certain storey after started which include me too. I started to feel breathless and tired between 30 to 60 storey, but still tried my best to maintain the speed without taking any rest in between the race. In the race, the staircase hand railing became my best friend which I can rely on. Haha ÖÜ

Then an unusual thing when I reached around 55 storey. When I got to that level, I felt the strong smell of thinner which caused me to hold my breath for a while for nothing. I think some contractors are doing some renovation works at that time. I felt that they should closed the exit door during the race at that particular level so as not be interrupt the performance of the runners. Anyway, I reached the rooftop in a short while which I was long waiting for viewing the panoramic view of the city area.

This year, I finished the race with a timing of 12 min 03 sec which was 30 seconds slower than my previous timing of 11 min 33 sec that I set 2 years ago. Too bad, I was not able to beat my timing, but still glad to maintain my standard in the timing range of 11 to 12 min. I will try again next year if possible to see whether I can overcome the timing. After a short while, KT also finished the race and we rested and took a few snapshots together at the finishing point and also some panoramic photos of the city area. It was really nice standing at such a great height viewing the city of Singapore.











After that, we took the lift down to the starting point to collect our certificate with timing. It took a few seconds for me to obtain my cert, but 20 minutes or so for KT to obtain his cert. I was also not very sure why his one is so slow since we returned both our champion chip together to the same person.

During our rest, I saw the 80 years old uncle again who took part in the race again (See photo below). Ha Ü. When he was interviewed by the host on how long he has been taking part in this event, he replied that it is his 7th consecutive years this time round and his fastest timing was around 13+ minutes many years back (if I did not hear wrongly because busy taking photos.) Wah. That was amusing. Really need to salute him for that. It is not easy for such an elderly man to maintain his fitness and overcoming the vertical marathon every year. 3 Cheers to him.

Lastly, when we went to see the result posted on the whiteboard, we were quite stunned to see that the fastest runner (in our category of 20 to 29 years old) completed his race with a timing of 7 min 37 sec (See photo below circled in red). How did he do it man?? He is Flash or Superman?? Haha.

But I am not very sure whether he is the overall fastest male finisher when I am writing this blog since there is still another Men Open Category which has not started when we left the race venue. Anyway, I think I have watched the news for the overall result of the fastest finisher.

Anyway, I need to conquer the Swissôtel again tonight as I will be attending my friend’s wedding dinner where the venue falls at the same venue as my vertical marathon. So coincidence. But it will be an easy climb for me, since it’s only 4 storey. Or should I take the lift instead?? Haha Ö