Wai Ching Soh, Tea Faber, and the children supported by SOS Children's Village in Kraśnik are the winners of the 13th Run to the Top Rondo 1.
Nearly 50 thousand PLN for a charitable cause, exciting competition between amateurs and the best tower runners in the world, and plenty of smiles and fun – participants of this year's Run to the Top Rondo 1 proved that "13" can be lucky.
The Rondo 1 office building in Warsaw hosts hundreds of athletes every year, combining stair running with fun and charity. This was no different during the 13th Run to the Top Rondo 1, held on Saturday, April 12. Nearly 600 participants took part in the competition, including the best stair runners in the world.
In the elite competition, the favorite of the event, Malaysian Wai Ching Soh, won. The current world champion triumphed in the previous two editions of the event, and this past weekend completed a hat-trick by winning for the third time in a row. The second place was claimed by the world ranking leader, Japanese Ryoji Watanabe, and the third spot went to the experienced Italian representative, Fabio Ruga. The fastest Polish runner was once again Piotr Łobodziński, who still holds the Rondo 1 course record from 2014 – 3 minutes and 27 seconds. This year, Łobodziński placed fourth.
The fastest woman was Tea Faber, marking her first victory in the Run to the Top Rondo 1. Polish Iwona Wicha took second place, while third place went to the current world stair climbing champion, Valentina Belotti from Italy.
RESULTS
In the Open category, the winners were Mikołaj Zięba from Toruń and Dominika Ostrowska from Kraków.
Traditionally, during the event, there were numerous firefighters who completed the entire course – over 830 steps – in full gear, breathing through oxygen tanks and masks.
Another exciting challenge was taken up by Sylwester Wilk, who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident a few years ago. The athlete set aside his prosthesis and showed that it is possible to climb the 37th floor of Rondo 1... on one leg! It took him just over 12 minutes! Moreover, after a short rest, he decided to climb the same course again – this time with the prosthesis. A time of 6 minutes and 4 seconds earned him a place in the top 100 of the Open classification.
In the background of the athletic competition, runners once again showed that sport can do a lot of good. All registration fees from the participants were donated to the children supported by SOS Children's Village in Kraśnik. The total amount raised this year was 49,302 PLN, and the total amount raised throughout the history of the Run to the Top Rondo 1 has now exceeded 400,000 PLN!
SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGES - LEARN MORE
The event host was the Rondo 1 office building, and the partner was the Zdrofit fitness club network. The event’s media partners were: Biegowe.pl, Eurobuild CEE, Informator Stolicy, MaratonyPolskie.pl, NowaWarszawa.pl, Radio Kolor, TVP 3 Warsaw, and TVP Sport.
