Overview

What exactly is Tower Running?

In short, it is a sport of climbing stairs competitively in tall buildings.  As a sports, tower runs have been around since the early part of the 20th century and are now gaining popularity. In Malaysia, this popularity is greatly boosted by the outstanding performance of our own athlete, Mr Soh Wai Ching, who has become the world’s number 1 Tower Runner after taking up the sport seriously in the last few years.  Together with other passionate athletes, he has founded the Malaysia Tower Running Association (MTA) to promote the sports of tower running in Malaysia.

Tower-running races take place in some of the world’s most iconic buildings, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and the Empire State Building in New York.  
In Malaysia, Tower runs have been organized in the past in KL Tower, and the Komtar Tower in Penang.  This year, guided by MTA, a professionally organized world class Tower Run will be organized at The TOP Penang Theme Park, Komtar Penang on the 19th November 2022 by established event organizer, Endurance Nature Sdn Bhd.  

Construction of The TOP Komtar tower started in 1974, and was completed 12 years later in 1986.  Runners will scale a total height of 249m after climbing 68 floors in 1,381 steps.  The other interesting facts about the run are as follow:

       Height:  249m
       Elevation Climb:  249m
       Number of floors:  68
       Number of steps:  1,381 steps
       Number of steps per flight:  20 (21 at 9th floor)
       Step height:  15.8 – 17.8 cm
       Step depth:  28cm
       Step width:  138cm
       Height of the handrail:  88cm
       Direction of the staircase:  Anti-clockwise

Running or walking up stairs is a high-intensity workout.  It is a great way to increase cardiorespiratory performance, improve lower-body strength and endurance, and build mental persistence.  In studies, stair climbing has also been associated with improvements in metabolism, dynamic balance, resting heart rate, daily energy and cognition.  In other adults, stair climbing is even linked to a reduced risk of falls, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality.