PETALING JAYA: World No. 1 Soh Wai Ching (pic) kickstarted the 2023 season in style by winning the Malaysia Tower Running Championship held at Komtar, Penang in a new course record time.
Wai Ching took 1,381 steps to scale the top of the 68-floor Penang landmark building in 7:18 minutes.
Wai Ching previously held the course record of 7:39 when the event last took place in 2019.
The 28-year-old Wai Ching did not expect to made a smashing start to his campaign.
“I was the first to start the race. My target was to bring my previous course record of 7:39 down to 7:30.
“Coming into this competition, I was not in the best of shape as I just got back from off-season in December and followed by two weeks of physiological lab testing.
“I only got about two weeks of training for this competition but I was confident of breaking the record.
“I know that my performance now is way better than before, therefore breaking the record is not a problem for me. But I didn’t expect to break it by 21 seconds!”
Wai Ching will next compete at the Media One Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
