Tower Running! Take the Stairs!

Isnt it fun running down a tower? Well, here is a chance to do so in Goa.

The venue : Gera's Imperium II, Patto Plaza, Panaji on Sun 31 Jan 2016, 

840 steps up, 840 steps down

In Goa, the maximum number of floors in a building allowed under zoning laws is seven. Thus the Linc Tower Run in Goa is across five buildings, aggregating a total of 35 floors. In tall buildings, the race ends on the top floor. The Goa Tower Run requires climbing down the stairs as well. In the number of steps, it is the longest tower running race in India and on par with top Tower Runs worldwide. 

Poster at Panjim Municipal Garden (Garcia De Orta)

Here are 10 facts about Tower Running:

1)      It is an unconventional sport, which involves stair climbing – running up the internal staircases of buildings.

2)      In 2013-12, more than 150,000 men and women participated in over 225 Tower Runnin race, worldwide, in 33 countries.

3)      The first big tower run in the United States was held in 1978 with the Empire State Building Run-Up in New York City. That event now continues as the country's granddaddy race on America's most recognized skyscraper.

4)      Tower running was first conceptualized in Europe.

5)      The European Towerrunning World Association (TWA) governs the annual Towerrunning World Cup (towerrunning.com) system that incorporates nearly 200 races across the globe and has overseen a ranking system since 2009.

6)      The world’s longest tower run is the Niesen Treppenlauf; 11,674 steps up a  staircase next to a funicular railway to the top of Mount Niesen, Switzerland. 

7)      More than 160 races held in 25 countries are evaluated each year for the Tower Running World Cup, by the Towerrunning World Association (TWA), based in Austria. Goa is one of them.

8)   At Radebuel in Germany, competitors in the Mount Everest Stair Marathon do 100 trips up and down 397 stairs (supposedly the equivalent of climbing the mountain.

9)      The Tata Tower Run is Mumbai’s and probably India’s first Tower Run. It is organized by Goa based Sports Event Management firm, Adventure Breaks for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and sponsored by the Tata Group.

10)  In Mumbai, the Tata Tower Run is held in the iconic World Trade Center at Cuffe Parade. Participants race up the first 30 floors of the 36-floor tower on South Mumbai.

Take a look at some of the sponsored tower races around the world:

Venue (Name of the run)	Number of Steps	Sponsored by
International Commerce Centre (Hong Kong	2120 steps	Sun Hung Kai Properties
Willis Tower, Chicago (Go Vertical)	2109 steps	Sear
Menara Tower, Penang, Malaysia	2058 steps	Penang Global Tourism
Taipei 101, Taiwan (Taipei 101 Run)	2046 steps	Standard Chartered bank
China World Summit Wing Hotel, Beijing, (China World Summit Wing Hotel Vertical Run)	2041 steps	Shangri-La Hotel and Emirates
Landmark 72, Hanoi, Vietnam (Landmark 72, Hanoi run)	1914 steps	Calidas Royal residence
The Empire State building, New York, USA (Empire State Building Run-Up)	1,860 steps	Tata Consultancy Services
CN Tower, Toronto	1776 steps	Enbridge Inc
Eureka Tower, Melbourne (Eureka Climb)	1642 steps	OsteoEze
Swissotel, Singapore (Swissotel Vertical Marathon)	1336 steps	Soleus Watches, Mizuno Apparel and Nestle Milo
Tower 42, London (Vertical Tower Run)	920 steps	Fujitsu
World Trade Centre, Mumbai	689 steps	Tatas

Reference: http://espn.go.com/sports/; http://www.towerrunning.in/