Jul. 5, 2016 Vol. 229 by Theodore Pigott, special correspondent
The Taipei 101 Run Up Taipei 101 is one of the world's tallest buildings. It also has one of the world's fastest elevators, which tens of thousands of visitors take every year to the observation deck on the building's eighty-fifth floor. However, there is one day each year that most visitors take the stairs, and not the elevator, to reach the top of the building. This day, of course, is the annual "Taipei 101 Run Up," an event that has been held every spring in Taipei for the past twelve years. Contrary to popular belief, participants in the race do not actually climb to the very top of Taipei 101. Instead, they run up the stairs to the tower's ninety-first floor. Participants must climb up 2,046 steps in total, to complete the challenge. The Taipei101 Run Up attracts runners from all over the world. This year's race, which was held on May 1, had participants from more than thirty countries, including Japan, Germany, India, Indonesia, the United States, and, of course, Taiwan. The race features both a male and female division, as well as a special category for a team relay race. A Colombian runner, Frank Carreño, won the men's division in this year's race with a time of 11:47:24, while an Australian runner, Alice McNamara, won the women's event with a time of 14:23:91. Each received a trophy and a cash prize of NT$38,000, though neither of them were able to manage to break the records set at the first event in 2005. Among the local Taiwanese competitors, the fastest runners were Chiang Yen-ching (江晏慶) and Shih Ching-hui (施靜慧), with times of 13:06 and 16:30, respectively. These two also received prizes of NT$38,000 each in a special category that was set up for Taiwanese citizens. A few politicians also took part in the event. Taipei's current mayor, Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who is also an avid biker, participated in the event for the second year in a row. This time around, the mayor was able to improve his time from 45:45 in 2015 to 38:41 in this year's race. However, Ko expressed some disappointment that he was 1