Paul Crake of Australia and Andrea Mayr of Austria defended their titles in the men and women's categories in yesterday's race up the world's tallest building, Taipei 101.
Crake, 31, five-time winner of the Empire State Building run-up, took 10 minutes and 31 seconds to run up the skyscraper's 2,046 steps, slightly slower than his record of 10 minutes and 29 seconds last year.
Mayr, 27, twice winner of the Empire State Building, finished in 13 minutes and 28 seconds, also slower than her last year's effort of 12 minutes and 38 seconds.
PHOTOS: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Each of the competitors took home the top prize of NT$200,000.
Thomas Dold, 22, and Matthias Janh, 25, both from Germany, finished second and seventh in the men's category, with 11 minutes and 16 seconds and 12 minutes and 31 seconds respectively.
Dold, who has won all the five skyscraper run-ups he has entered in Germany, the US and Switzerland this year, said he was satisfied with his performance, because last year he came fourth in 12 minutes and 11 seconds.
"Today I did better because I was able to maintain a steady pace. I did not run faster because the semester has begun and I have not had enough time to train," he told reporters.
Dold studies economics in Stuttgart.
Janh, who has just finished university and is looking for job in marketing, was also happy about his performance.
"I gave my best, so I am absolutely satisfied with myself," he said.
Their next challenge is the Vienna TV Tower run-up in three weeks' time.
"That will be much easier because it is only 779 steps," he said.
Some 2,000 people took part in the Taipei 101 run-up this year, including 30 invited runners from 12 different countries.
Opened on Jan. 1, 2004, Taipei 101 surpassed Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers on three of the four criteria specified by the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat: structural height (508m), rooftop height (448m) and habitable floor height (438m).
Sears Tower in Chicago still keeps the world record for pinnacle or antenna height. Sears Tower, with a 85m spire, stands at 527 metres. Taipei 101, with a 60-metre spire, is 508m.
However, Taipei-101 will lose the "world's tallest building" title in 2008 to Dubai Tower, which will be 705m with 162 floors.
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