German and Italian win race up 91 floors of Taipei skyscraper

Jun 5, 2011, 12:59 GMT

German Thomas Dold poses after winning the annual Taipei 101 Runup, clocking 11 minutes 19 seconds on 05 June 2011, in Taipei, Taiwan. Dold has won the Taipei 101 race 3 times and the Empire State Building runup six times. EPA/DAVID CHANG

Taipei - German Thomas Dold and Italian Valentina Belotti on Sunday won the men's and women's titles in the annual Taipei 101 Runup, which sees athletes race up 91 storeys of a Taipei skyscraper.

The 508-metre Taipei 101 is the world's second tallest building after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Dold, winner in 2008 and 2009, ran up in 11 minutes 19 seconds, beating defending champion Marco De Gasperi of Italy by 12 seconds.

'You must be mentally and physically fit, and must make sure that body and mind are working 100 per cent together,' Dold told the German Press Agency dpa.

Dold, one of the world's top highrise racers, divides his time between training and working as a business consultant in Karlsruhe.

In Sunday's Taipei 101 runup, Valentina Belotti from Italy won the women's division of the race in 13 minutes and 51 seconds, beating Antonella Confor, also Italian, by one second.

Some 6,000 people -including dozens of foreign highrise runners - took part in the Taipei 101 Runup.

Read more about Taiwan Curiosity