By Wendy John
SIBU, Dec 19: His international ranking is certain to send shivers down the spine of any local tower run participant.
But that did not stop Asia No. 1 and also World No.2 tower runner, Soh Wai Ching, from issuing a challenge to participants of Sibu Tower Run 2020 to try and beat him.
“If local runners cannot beat me, they should at least, if they can, be on par with me,” the 25-year-old said at a press conference yesterday.
Soh, who will be the ambassador for the event for the second time, won the tower run twice in 2017 and 2018.
According to Soh, his purpose behind issuing the challenge was because he wanted to unearth potentials with whom he could form a team to compete in tower runs around the world.
On Wednesday (Dec 18), Soh completed his test run at Wisma Sanyan by clocking 2 minutes 58 seconds from the ground floor to the top. He managed to complete the run below 3 minutes as he was running according to the new format of the run.
In previous editions, participants had to complete a 5km run first before climbing up the staircase of Wisma Sanyan which numbers a total of 627 steps. In the 2020 edition, the 5km run will no longer be included and runners will be challenged solely on their run up the staircase to the top of the building.
The organiser for the 4th Sibu Tower Run, Methodist Pilley Institute (MPI) Alumni Association, aimed to enlist 1,000 participants instead of 300 as in previous years.
Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) is the host for this prestigious event which is also recognised as one of the six tower runs in the country. It will take place at 6am on March 8 at Wisma Sanyan which is currently the tallest building in Sarawak boasting 28 floors.
The run is sanctioned by Malaysia Tower Running Association and is also listed as an event in the Sarawak Tourism calendar.
Meanwhile organising chairman councillor Mohammed Abdullah Izkandar urged the people to take the challenge by competing in the run.
“Be part of tower running community and let’s show that we too can reach the top of the tallest building in Sarawak,” he said.
The run is divided into Men and Women’s Open as well as Men and Women’s Veteran.
The champion in each category stands to receive RM800 plus a trophy, while those in second place will receive RM400 plus a trophy, third RM300 plus trophy, fourth and fifth placing RM100 and sixth to 10th placing RM50.
Entries are still open for interested participants.
To register, download the JomRun form from Play store or App store. —DayakDaily
