Ryoji Watanabe kicked off his 2020 tower running campaign with a win at the Building Climb Cup race in Niigata, Japan.
Held at the Next21 building, the event consisted of three qualifying runs up 19 floors, with the top-ten fastest men and women (cumulative total time) advancing to the final.
The final involved two runs to the 19th floor, with the athlete with the fastest cumulative time declared the winner.
Next21 in Niigata, Japan
Watanabe (JPN), who finished third in the Vertical World Circuit last year, dominated the whole event. He laid down a marker in the qualifiers, running the fastest time in each of the three rounds (2:26, 2:23 and 2:28).
He then stepped it up considerably for the tightly contested final. He ran 2:09 in the first round, marginally faster than second-placed Shota Nakamata (2:10) and Hayato Matino in third (2:11).
Ryoji Watanabe in action at Next21
But Watanabe, who won the race last year, showed his caliber in the final run to secure victory. He finished in 2:06, some way ahead of Nakamata (2:12) and Daiichi Ishikubo (2:13).
In the women’s division, Mie Takahashi finished on top clocking a consistent 2:53 in both of her runs in the final.
Mie Takahashi on her way to victory
Takaaki Koyama wins single climb event
Takaaki Koyama clocked a super-fast 2:04 to win the Short event. Eighth in the Vertical World Circuit rankings last year, the Japanese athlete is a rising star on the tower running circuit.
Takaaki Koyama begins one of his climbs
He held off Watanabe, who clocked 2:08, to secure victory in the single sprint event.
Fastest woman in the Short race was Yumi Uchiyama who finished in 3:16.
All the results from the race at Next21 can be found here.
There are also excellent photos from the event available here.
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