Australian runner clinches KL International Towerthon title

Australian men's middle-distance runner, Darren Wilson broke Kenyan domination by clinching the Open category (aged 18-39) title at the Kuala Lumpur Tower International Towerthon Challenge 2014

held at KL Tower, here, today.

Wilson, 39, crossed the finishing line after running up 2,058 steps (288 metres) with a time of 12 minutes and 23.84 seconds to walk away with RM3,000 cash, a challenge trophy, certificate, gold medal, Wenken product hamper, a month's gym membership and a personal training session at Celebrity Fitness.

Two Kenyan runners - Enock Kipchirchir Kigen and Alex Kipkorit - finished in second and third place after clocking 13:16:38s and 13:46:83s respectively.

The second until the fifth placing received RM2,000, RM1,000, RM800 and RM700 cash respectively, while participants who finished sixth to 10th, each took home an Adabi product hamper and a food hamper.

Kenyan women's runner, Carolyne Jepkosgei Chepkwony took the women's open title after clocking 16:53:63s while national triathlete, Kimberley Yap Fui Li finished in second place (18:09:24s) and another local runner, Tan Mei Wai (21:03:39s) in third place.

KL Tower chief executive officer, Datuk Zuraidah Mohd Said presented the prizes to the winners.

Speaking to reporters after the race, Wilson said he was simply delighted with the victory as this was the first time he competed in Malaysia.

The father of three boys said he had been competing in several races before, including the renowned Empire State Marathon held annually in New York, United States, but he had never won the top prize.

"It's a great experience and obviously if you emerge as a winner, it becomes more special and I am very happy to win the race. I trained hard and it has paid off," said Wilson who has been activively participating in half marathon events for the past 10 years.

Meanwhile, Yap said she was quite suprised to finish the race in second place as she joined it just for fun and not putting any target.

"I was quite shocked with the result but it was a good experience for me running here, and it's a totally different challenge as I've been involved in the triathlon races," said the elated Yap.

Almost 3,500 locals and international runners competed in the race which required them to climb up 2,058 steps starting from the KL Tower's open parking area to the Mega View Banquet Hall, located 288m above sea level.

The race which was flagged off at 5am, involved eight categories - Men's and Women's Open (aged 18-39), Men's Junior Veteran (40-49), Men's Senior Veteran (50 and above), Women's Veteran (35 and above), Boys and Girls Junior (13-17) and Disabled (18 and above).