Malaysia's 27-year-old Soh Wai Ching just won the 2021 Empire State Building Run-Up, where US$100,000 (RM415,000) goes to the winner's charity of choice
On Oct 27, Soh Wai Ching made Malaysians proud by winning the 2021 Empire State Building Run-Up, the world’s first and most famous tower race that Soh likened to the US Open in tennis or World Major Marathon to those in the tower running sport. Soh scaled a gruelling 87 flights (a total of 1,576 steps) to the top of the New York Empire State Building, the sixth tallest building in the US, in just 10 minutes and 47 seconds–and that's not the only win in his story.
Conquering the feat has also made the 27-year-old tower runner the first Asian to win this annual endurance race. The Run-Up's official charity partner this year is the Challenged Athletes Foundation, an organisation dedicated to helping people overcome physical challenges and live a healthy, active lifestyle.
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In November 2020, Soh became the Guinness World Record holder for the Greatest Vertical Height Stair Climbing in One Hour (Male).
Soh, however, was disappointed in his own performance as he had hoped to achieve the feat in under 10 minutes. Currently, Australian runner Paul Crake holds the course record for completing the race in just nine minutes and 33 seconds in 2003.
"I gave my best towards the end but definitely it can be much faster!" Soh said in an Instagram post about his win. "Happy to meet many new friends and share my dreams and passion with them. I want to inspire everyone to dream big, believe in themselves, put in the work, and achieve it! The next big goal: attempting double Guinness World Records!"
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The champ nevertheless was thrilled to meet actor Sebastian Stan of Marvel Studios' The Winter Soldier at the event.