Alexis Trujillo took first place at the SkyRise Chicago event at Willis Tower on Sunday (Nov. 3) in a time of 13:26.
In doing so, the Mexican star broke the win streak of Colombia’s Frank Carreno who had remained unbeaten at the event since 2016.
Trujillo took an impressive 21-seconds off the time that earned him third place in 2018.
Germany’s Görge Heimann was the second fastest to reach the top of the 103-floor building, in 13:38, while course record holder Carreno (12:58, 2017) finished third in 14:19.
Since 2017 the race has started two floors below ground level, meaning racers step up 105 floors and around 2,150 steps to the finish line.
Alexi Trujillos, SkyRise Chicago winner 2019, with Gorge Heimann (l) and Frank Carreno
It’s the second massive win in the USA for Trujillo this year, after he took victory at Scale the Strat in Las Vegas back in February.
It’s also welcome revenge over Carreno who has pipped Trujillo to first place at a couple of events in Mexico this year, including the Carrera Vertical Torre Latino back in March.
Since then, Trujillo has bagged some solid wins in his native country, with victories at Pabellon M Monterrey and Carrera Vertical UVM Campus Chapultepec in July, and Carrera Towerrunning Tlaxcala in August.
He has also secured excellent podium spots at European venues. He finished third at the Ostankino Tower run in Moscow, Russia on 24 August (image below) and was then second at the UFO Vertical Sprint in Bratislava, Slovakia, a week later.
The Willis (formerly Sears) Tower has long attracted some of the biggest names in American tower running, and this year was no different.
Alongside the international contingent of Trujillo, Heimann and Carreno were top Americans Alex Workman, Mark Ewell, Jason Larson, John Osborn and Mark Henderson.
Three-time winner Jesse Berg (2006, 2010, 2012) also made a welcome return to the Chicago tower, taking fourth place in 14:50. Alex Workman was fifth in 15:09.
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