2013 SU Update: Unusual Race held in Universiade Village

KAZAN – The building run-up race took place in the Universiade Village on November 16th. Residents of the student campus toed the starting line of the unique stair climbing event challenged to climb up 16 floors

The building run-up used to be an annual tradition in Kazan University’s high-rise buildings. Over the years, the tradition was forgotten, until recently.

The unusual race took place in one of the buildings of the Universiade Village. Within an hour, every 30 seconds, 60 participants, one at a time, started off to run up to the top of the building in an attempt to demonstrate the best result.

«Such events have nothing but advantages», said Marat Vakkasov, one of the run-up’s organizers. «The Universiade Village keeps heading towards its main goal that is to place emphasis on a healthy way of life. This event is timed to coincide with two occasions, ‘No Smoking Day’ and ‘Birthday of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University’.»  He also noted that a building run-up differed from a traditional, so-called ‘flat race’, as it required strong arms.

Indeed, this kind of race is complicated and associated with a risk of injury, but competitors were more than content to try their hand in it. There was a tight struggle for the first place. As a result, the men’s main trophy went to Ruslan Potapov (48.59 sec), Arkady Leontyev finished as a runner-up (49.37 sec) and Alexander Kilitsin took bronze (49.60 sec). Valentina Chernysheva was the best racer among women. Her result was 58.65 sec.

Despite the fact the next sporting events to be held in the Universiade Village are more traditional like badminton and volleyball tournaments, the Universiade Village’s sports event managers also pay attention to such rare and unique competitions.

(Source: Media Department of Kazan 2013 Executive Directorate)