Marathoning Kuala Lumpur Style

Many leisure activities in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, seem to be to take place in shopping malls and large mixed use towers and complexes these days. With their air-conditioned spaciousness, these places are an ideal getaway from the sticky tropical heat. People meet their friends for coffee or meals, hang out and watch events at a central forum area, go to the movies, go shopping of course and stroll along taking in the sights and sounds. The KL Tower is one of these havens from the hot equatorial sun - and it is also the setting for a vertical marathon: every year, runners take part in a “towerthon”, racing from the grounds of the tower and up the stairs to the top!

Here is a video of the event by one of the community of Malaysian “fitbloggers”, going by the moniker RunWitMe:

You can read more details in his race report of the event.

I’m not sure that I’d last the course - the temptation to nip through one of the fire doors towards the lift and take that to the top instead would be too great…