Poland’s Piotr Lobodzinski won the inaugural race up the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Friday, known as the “Vertical”.
It took two years, two months and five days to build the Eiffel Tower but Lobodzinski leapt up its 1,665 steps to the third floor in just 7min 50sec despite cold weather and high winds that made the final stages terrifying.
In total, 57 people from 16 different countries — top class athletes as well as a cancer survivor and an amputee — took part in the race, part of a weekend of trail events ranging from 18km to 80km known as the ‘Ecotrail’.
In total, competitors climbed 324 vertical metres to reach the top, where exhausted bodies gasped for oxygen and lay strewn on the metal.
“It’s worse than a sprint, worse than a marathon and worse than giving birth,” said American Madeleine Fontillas-Ronk, 46, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013.
“It’s 10-15 minutes of all out effort. You feel your lungs, your throat, your brain is telling you to stop. But you want to finish.
“It’s between me and the tower. If she’s still standing, I’m still standing. We’re both winners.”