PETALING JAYA: World number one tower-runner, Malaysian Soh Wai Ching, won his second title last Saturday in the Europe Tower-running Championships and dedicated his win to Malaysians as a celebration of our 65th Independence Day and the upcoming Malaysia Day on Sept 16.
Wai Ching won the overall category title in the Zagrepcanka 512 (Zagreb Tower challenge) by completing 25 floors in two minutes and 38 seconds after winning the overall category title in the Germany Tower-running Championship (Cologne Tower challenge), by completing the 39-floor dash in three minutes and 17 seconds on Aug 29.
“I am happy to win and achieve my mission of winning Double Gold for both Cologne (Germany) and Zagreb (Croatia). Winning both these events is my gift in celebration of Malaysia’s 65th Independence Day and the upcoming Malaysia Day,” he said.
Wai Ching said among his goals was to beat the course records for Cologne and Zagreb. However, he only managed to break the record for Cologne at three minutes and 17 seconds which is six seconds faster than the previous record held by German tower-runner Christian Reidl.
“I was aware of the course record for Zagreb, which is 2.34 minutes but I had never taken part in it previously, so I tried my best to break the record.
“The toughest part of this competition is not who can run the fastest but who is skilful and creative enough to tackle every turn quickly without losing momentum on the next flight of stairs,” he told theSun.
Wai Ching ended the competition with a time of 2:38 minutes. Four seconds behind the course record, but he is confident of returning there next year to bag the course record.
Wai Ching, who has a RM111,600 sponsorship from the Better Malaysia Foundation that runs from July this year to June next year, said the sponsorship helped him to find accommodations and time to train ahead of the event.
“In Kuala Lumpur, my training partners and I stay in KLCC Sky Suites, a 74-floor apartment where we live and train. We moved there in early August and I got a solid three to four weeks of training before travelling to Cologne and Zagreb.
“Flights now cost double what they were before, so I am so glad to be able to travel and compete without having to worry much and can focus more on my training, thanks to the sponsorship.
“The BMF sponsorship supports me and I used part of the sponsorship money to help other potential Malaysian tower-runners such as Low Keng Yik, and Chin Hong Zhang to travel to Singapore in early July to take part in the National Vertical Marathon at the Suntec Tower.
“We won 80% of the podium in the Men’s category, with the first, second, fourth and fifth places all going to Malaysians.”
Wai Ching has won a total of three titles for tower running and two titles for being the fastest Malaysian at road running events.
The 28-year-old will be taking part in the Great North Run (the largest half marathon in the world) at Newcastle in the United Kingdom on Sept 11. He will then travel to the United States for four tower-running competitions at the end of September and early October.
