Following on from his win two weeks ago, Rich “Beyond Human” Sirrs was back in action last Sunday with a race at the R&F Yingtong Building in New Zhujiang Town.
The race was part of the ongoing 2015 International Vertical Marathon Series and saw runners take on 984 steps of the 41 floor tower. It was a step up in class for Hull man Sirrs, as he faced off against the reigning Chinese Towerrunning Champion Ou “The Great Wall” Jiajing.
“The Great Wall” Ou Jiajing sets off in pursuit of Beyond Human
The Great Wall has had a strong 2015 season so far and had a great performance at January’s Towerrunning World Cup Final in Vienna, where he finished ahead of some of Europe’s best climbers to secure himself 13th place overall in one of the strongest fields ever assembled.
Sirrs executed an impressive display on Sunday, finishing just 7 seconds behind Jiajing who reached the roof in 5.50.
Beyond Human blasts through the fan tunnel at the start of the race.
“The race felt much tougher than last week”, said Sirrs, “I left it all in the stairwell and had to lay down on the roof because my legs wouldn’t work anymore. There was a 100m pre-stairwell sprint, which i hate because you are blowing even before you make the stairs and as a result I was feeling the burn by the 20th floor. Even though I didn’t take the win, i’m still quite happy because Ou Jiajing is really strong.”
Clad imposingly in black like Mike Tyson in his heyday, Rich Sirrs fights the urge to hip check a thunder-stealing organiser from his podium spot!
Beyond Human should certainly be happy with his performance as it clearly shows he is ready to compete with the world’s elite stair runners. The hero of Orchard Park has two more events lined up in China before he is set to return to the UK. His return is eagerly anticipated where we look forward to seeing him face off against the best the country has to offer.
Also in China last weekend was the perennially successful Rolf “The Wanderer” Majcen who clocked up another victory at the 1,087 stair R&F Yingxin Building in a time of 5.47.
“Keep your medals, yo!! I gots me a toy car and teddy bear!!” Majcen loving life at the top.
Well done to Towerrunning China for the execution of a great series of races and best of luck to all those competing in races this weekend.
Pre-race frolics in an inflatable pool outside the tower, ‘cos why not??
Tower Running UK 