Lifestyle

This M’sian Races up Staircases Globally and Is the No. 1 Tower Runner in the World

Marcus Lee
07/06/2022
08:50 MYT
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This M’sian Races up Staircases Globally and Is the No. 1 Tower Runner in the World
Soh Wai Ching a 27-year-old from Selayang recently competed in a race upwards, climbing the 104 floors of the One World Trade Centre building and came out victorious!
The competition held in New York saw him clocking a time of 12 minutes and 46 seconds to climb up the 2,226 steps of the massive tower to the top. Racing ahead of his US counterpart who finished second at 15 minutes and 53 seconds.
And this isn't Wai Ching's first time either. He's actually ranked no.1 in the world according to the Towerrunning World Association.
His score of 404 puts him leagues ahead of the competition as Poland's Piotr Lobodzinski has only accumulated 240 points.
The achievements keep piling up as this is not his first win for the year, he's also won five other competitions—this year alone: M1 Run in Dubai (February 5), Big Climb Dallas (March 26), Big Climb Seattle (March 27), Big Climb Houston (April 2) and Fight for Air Climb San Francisco (April 9).
He isn't even finished in New York as there's a Fight For Air Climb NYC Race at Penn 1 Plaza next on June 11.
Since competing in the sport in 2017, the runner has competed in 68 races all around the world and has 36 times while setting 22 course records.
From 2 December 2019 to 21 May 2022, the climbing savant won 19 consecutive competitions!
You may be surprised to know that the sport does not have any prize money for winners and that Soh has self-funded all of his tower climbing expeditions around the world.
According to FMT, his sponsors dropped him in 2020 to focus on hockey and cycling and our own government is not giving him any support either.
To compete in New York he had to rely on the kindness of other Malaysians living in America who sponsored his stay there.
Help an athelete out and sponsor his next race! Reach out to him on his Facebook page Soh Wai Ching - Athlete.
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