Dold and Vassalli take Vertical titles
Dold and Vassalli, 2009 Vertical World Circuit champs
The Vertical World Circuit final race was held on Sunday at Singapore’s Swissôtel Vertical Marathon, crowning Germany’s Thomas Dold and Italy’s Daniela Vassalli, 2009 Vertical Running World Champions.
The circuit rounded up a series of races on some of the world’s most spectacular skyscrapers in nine countries and four continents.
The ISF’s Lauri van Houten reports:
1,600 runners took part in the Swissôtel Vertical Marathon held Sunday, November 22, up one of south east Asia’s tallest buildings, the Swissôtel Stamford – 1,336 steps, 73 floors and 226 metres high.
Dold won the race and set a new record in 6’46”, confirming his circuit leadership, while the women’s race was won in 8’29” by Australia’s Suzy Walsham, who now places second in the world ranking standings.
Winners in Singapore, Dold and Walsham
Dold dominated the Vertical World Circuit, the first of its kind, which kicked off in New York with the traditional Empire State Building Run-up on February 3. He went on to win on the world’s tallest building, the Taipei 101 (an amazing 2,046 steps and 448m high), followed by Berlin, Sydney and Singapore. Italy’s Marco De Gasperi, five times World Mountain Running Champion, took second place in the rankings with a win in Milan and second places in New York and Tapei.
The women’s Vertical Running World Champion, Italy’s Daniela Vassalli, absent from the final, won on her title on the points accrued in New York (second), and her victories in Milan, Berlin and Barcelona. Walsham’s second place was based on her victories in New York, Tapei and Singapore, one race short for the four-race ranking point system.
Interestingly, many of the top runners competing in this ‘indoor’ sport are accomplished high altitude runners, or skyrunners, athletes competing in long distance outdoor events such as the Skyrunner® World Series, sanctioned and promoted by the International Skyrunning Federation (ISF). The first Vertical World Circuit is also under the federation’s umbrella and has been developed in collaboration with Vista Comunicazione, Milan Italy.
A research project on stair running carried out by the ISF reveals some interesting results for the ordinary man in the street who can safely use stair climbing to get in shape and as a general health benefit.
The vertical running trend is taking off around the world and races in Kuala Lumpur, London and San Paolo, Brazil look like the new venues to be included on next year’s exciting calendar to be announced shortly.
2009 VERTICAL WORLD CIRCUIT overall standings
Final results – MEN
1° – GER – THOMAS DOLD (2009 World Champion)
2° – ITA – MARCO DE GASPERI
3° – GER – CHRISTIAN RIEDL
4° – CZE – PAVEL HOLEC
5° – ITA – DARIO FRACASSI
6° – ITA – FABIO RUGA
7° – SVK – TOMAS CELKO
8 ° – POR – PEDRO RIBEIRO
Final results – WOMEN
1° – ITA – DANIELA VASSALLI (2009 World Champion)
2° – AUS – SUZANNE WALSHAM
3° – ITA – CRISTINA BONACINA
4° – GER – MARIE-FEE BREYER
5° – AND – STEFANIE JIMENEZ
6° – AUS – JESSAMY HOSKING
7° – GER – SIMONE MENZ
8° – AUS – VANESSA HAVERD
