The start of the 2019 International Tower Running Grand Prix at Wheelock Plaza.

Runners make their way up.

After a long climb, a massage..

A total of 700 runners challenged the 270-meter-high Wheelock Plaza in Jing’an District in a vertical running competition on Saturday.

The 2019 International Tower Running Grand Prix attracted some of the top vertical runners and amateur running enthusiasts — from students to white-collar workers and retirees.

Xue Jiandong won the men’s championship in 7 minutes and 8 seconds to climb the 1,480 stairs and 60 floors. Jian Muhua won the women’s championship, clocking 9 minutes and 39 seconds.

A variety of activities were held in the square of the Wheelock Plaza. Local white-collar workers gave sports performances including yoga, zumba and boxing.

Vertical running — basically, a race up stairs in high-rise buildings — began in New York's Empire State Building in 1978. Later, it gained popularity around the world and now nearly 300 skyscrapers have been registered as qualified venues for the competition.

The sport made its Chinese mainland debut in 2013 at the 330-meter, 82-floor China World Trade Center Tower in Beijing.

Today, many skyscrapers across the rapidly developing country hold such events, including the 632-meter, 127-story Shanghai Tower, the world’s tallest building after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Source: SHINE

Editor: Cai Wenjun