Stair racing heats up Wuxi on weekend

Wuxi's tallest building hosts a peculiar and grueling sporting event on April 15. [Photo/jschina.com.cn]

Wuxi's tallest building hosted a peculiar and grueling sporting event on April 15 when 900 energetic souls scrambled up the 339-meter-high building in a race known as the 2018 International Tower Running Grand Prix.

Anyone capable of completing the lung-busting feat should be considered a champion, but the winners were Zeng Wenbo for men, who reached the top of the building in 7 minutes 45 seconds, and Zhang Huiji for women, who finished in 9 minutes 40 seconds. The best time for the group relay was 7 minutes 55 seconds.

Zeng Wenbo remains the champion of the men's competition in the 2018 International Tower Running Grand Prix in Wuxi. [Photo/jschina.com.cn]

This was the second time in a row the event has been held in Wuxi. A group of 40 firemen also took part in the race, with the fastest being a detachment member of Huiyi Road, who finished in 9 minutes 59 seconds.

The view from the 65-floor building is certainly worth a little sweat, with the Wuxi Museum and Grand Canal visible on one side, and the beautiful Taihu Lake and Huishan Mountain on the other.

The organizers also decided to include a scoreboard to motivate more people to participate in the race. According to the event organizer, the next stage of the tournament will be held in Shenyang, the capital city of Northeast China's Liaoning province, on April 29.