Dash up a skyscraper

'Tower running' or racing up the stairs is now a popular new sport, with a rooftop party and a medal at the finish line.

For most of us, the sight of a broken down lift is enough to set the heart palpitating. However, it may surprise you that there are people who have taken racing up stairs as a sport. "Tower running" involves dashing up the staircases of the tallest buildings across the world. The sport has become a rage in Europe, Asia and particularly in the US, with three major competitions held at the US Bank Tower in Los Angeles, Sears Tower in Chicago and the Empire State Building in New York.

The past two years have seen hundreds of Indians join this list of people wanting to climb thousands of steps to test their endurance levels.

Here, tower running goes by the cool moniker of "skyscraper dash" and since June, last year, it has been held thrice at venues such as the 52-storey Kohinoor Square in Mumbai, also the tallest commercial building in India, and the 32-storey World Trade Centre in Bengaluru.

This is how it pans out: you opt for one of the three levels, sweat it out to the top and just when you think your knees and lungs are going to give way, voila! there is a buzzing rooftop party waiting for you -- and also a medal for the effort. "I was living in New York when I saw the run up the Empire State Building. When I moved back to India after 20 years, I realised that most people wanted to be healthy but had no time. Encouraging them to take one step after another on a staircase seemed ideal," says Ajay Gupta, founder of Sport365 India, organisers of 200 successful sports events in India, including the skyscraper dash.

The participants are runners, mountaineers and first-timers who want to try something different. And there are some like Bylahalli Janardan, who at 81 ran up a flight of 1,250 stairs at Kohinoor last year in just 15 minutes and 22 seconds. As someone who cycles an average of 50 km a day and has taken part in marathons across the world, his goal is simple: "384,400 km is the distance between the earth and the moon. I am 40,000 km short of the mark," he said in an interview last year. While he was the oldest participant in the dash, the youngest was five. There was also a couple who finished the climb with a one-year-old in tow.

The levels are chosen according to the space within the skyscraper. "For instance, in Bengaluru, complexes offer a lot of space. So we have a category as part of which you can run for 2 km around the complex and then climb up. Then there is the 2X dash that involves climbing up the stairs, going down and then dashing up again," says Gupta. The mother of all levels is the "Everest Challenge" in which the team climbs up and down, equalling the height of Mt Everest. There are five to six people who have climbed up 70 times to complete this. And then, of course, there is the basic level for beginners: you climb up once, party hard and go home.

For some the idea of pushing one's self is addictive. Bengaluru-based Alphius Maria wanted to place first in the race and that led him to participate in two dashes in Mumbai and Bengaluru. "Last year, I placed second in the Bengaluru sprint dash. So I thought: why not push myself further? In August, this year, when it happened again in the city, I achieved my goal," says 22-year-old Maria, an avid runner who has participated in state- and district-level leagues.

When Mumbai-based mountaineer Kuntal Joisher learnt about the dash from a friend, he was surprised that there were people who ran up stairs professionally. So, he decided to experience it first-hand. "As a mountaineer, climbing stairs is the best workout routine. I regularly run up 1,200 stairs of a temple located 1.5 hours from my house. But when I signed up for the 2X dash, I was amazed at the number of first-timers from across India who had so much enthusiasm for the sport," says 35-year-old Joisher.

Come 2016 and there are more skyscraper dashes scheduled in Delhi, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad. The number of participants seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. In Bengaluru, a 1,000-strong group participated in the dash. Some had to be turned away as Gupta and his team put a cap on the number to ensure safety. "We do a lot of work before the event. We assess the space to see how many people can be accommodated. Participants are divided into groups, of say 50, who will start every 20 minutes. There are also supervisors patrolling the floors to monitor people's safety," says Gupta.

Needless to say, you can't just wake up one fine day and decide to participate in a skyscraper dash. It needs rigourous training. Some suggest doing a combination of flat running for three days and then stair climbing for another three days. Madhuri Ruia, owner of Integym in Colaba that has partnered with the ClassVerse fitness experience, believes that one should do a combination of speed and agility training twice a week to improve the reflexes, followed by two days of weight training and then two days of plyometrics or jump training.

A tower run has a huge impact on the knee, hence it is important to take it slow while coming down. Wearing ankle-length trekking shoes to reduce the chances of a sprain or strain is recommended. "Also, do a lot of squats to build your thigh muscles so that the stress is less on the knee," says Satyajit Chaurasia, pro coach with lifestyle consultancy GOQii and trainer for Bollywood actors like Hrithik Roshan. Diet is another critical aspect of preparing for the race. "Ensure that your meal has 60 per cent protein, 35 per cent carbohydrates and 5 per cent of good fats" he says.