Becoming a tower run finisher
When I was a kid, I was what many would consider overweight. This was down to the fact that physical activity was just not my thing. If you were to ask if I could climb 47 floors of a building – even with a substantial cash prize as a dangled carrot – my 12-year-old self would say “no” in a heartbeat.
But today, I’m proud to say that I’ve successfully completed a 1,061-step tower running competition.
My decision to sign up for the competition this year was due to some pivotal events in my life so far – from a significant weight loss journey during the Covid-19 lockdowns, to meeting the king of tower running himself, Soh Wai Ching.
Here’s the story of my journey from being the chubby kid in my family, to having the title of tower run finisher under my belt:
My BMI went from 40.3 to 25
Image credit: Dennis Kong
Running a marathon wasn’t something I could ever imagine myself doing growing up. I always wondered how people could run for 6 hours straight without collapsing at the finish line.
Even if you were to offer me a million ringgit in cold hard cash to run a lap around my neighbourhood, I would choose to return to bed and take an afternoon nap – that’s how much I hated exercising.
As such, my relatives would often identify me as “that fat kid”, even calling me “fei zai” – Mandarin for “fat kid” – when they saw me.
While some may find the nickname derogatory, to me it was just my aunties being, well, aunties. Who doesn’t have relatives that can sometimes be a pain in the butt, right? But they are still family.
So, I brushed off the somewhat unpleasant moniker and took comments about my looks with a pinch of salt. After all, those same aunties always included me on holiday trips and remembered to buy me presents on my birthday, and I was grateful.
My dodgeball mates – me, on the far left.
Image credit: Reapers Dodgeball Club
Fast forward to 2020, and Covid-19 landed upon us – like all Malaysians, I was forced to stay home for months at a time under the various Movement Control Orders (MCO).
During those solitary times, instead of trying out viral TikTok trends and flexing my work-from-home setup on Instagram, I decided to use the abundance of hours I had in my hands to develop a proper workout routine.
Why all of a sudden, you may ask.
At the time, I was a member of a Malaysian dodgeball league, and I thought it would be a good idea to keep my physique strong until I could get back on the court again. Not carrying out physical activities for even just one month would negatively affect my form, and I didn’t want that to happen.
Not to mention, like most Malaysians, I thought the MCO would literally only last a month, tops. And I thought, Taking on a workout routine for 4 weeks seemed pretty feasible.
Image credit: Dennis Kong
And that was how my MCO workout routine started.
Though I was pretty much self-supervised, I would say my routine wasn’t the easiest. My daily workout plan included lunges, jumping jacks, and burpees – which I did every day without fail. My friends can probably recall my frequent “midnight crunch” Instagram Story updates from that period.
But it all paid off in the end. Between April to May in 2020, I lost 10 whole kgs.
In retrospect, I admit it was a potentially risky way to lose weight. My body was put under a significant amount of stress as I almost instantly cut my daily meals down from three to just one. According to professional athletes, though this routine pretty much guarantees weight loss, muscle mass may be sacrificed in the process.
Regardless, I was feeling good after I began to see some results, because I had never lost so much weight in my entire life. And naturally, the motivation to shed even more pounds increased day by day.
By the end of 2020, I lost about 38kg – going from 108kg to 70kg.
That’s when I thought, I could be an athlete now.
Taking my first steps towards tower running
Image credit: Dennis Kong
As Covid-19 restrictions began to ease up and we Malaysians returned somewhat to our normal daily lives, I got to hang out and catch up with my friends. Almost everyone who hadn’t seen me in-person during the MCO period told me, “Wah, eh, you so thin already ah!”
Despite the encouraging results of my MCO routine, my workout frequency post-lockdown returned to what it once was – near zero. The only way I was burning calories was through my weekly dodgeball training sessions, which was still less often than before as my friends and I were still adjusting back to our normal routines.
Then one day, I got the chance to meet the king of tower running – Malaysia’s own Soh Wai Ching, the World No.1 Tower Runner – through an online call for work.
I had been tasked to interview the man himself for a fun Merdeka-special content for The Smart Local Malaysia. While talking to him, listening to his stories, and learning about his motivation for leading an active lifestyle, the rigorousness of his training was not lost on me. This one confirm harder than my MCO exercise routine la!
I started following Wai Ching on social media, and was further amazed seeing him do thousands of jumping jacks and climbing over 70 flights of stairs every, single, day.
After going through all his workout Instagram stories, the thought came to me: Could I try taking on tower running? I managed to push myself to lose all that weight during MCO, so it shouldn’t be impossible, right?
Image credit: Dennis Kong
As if zapped with inspiration, I contacted Wai Ching again. He then invited me to join the Berjaya Times Square 2023 Tower Run, in which participants had to scale 47 floors comprising a whopping 1,061 steps.
Being quite confident of the possibility I might actually not be able to finish the race, I decided to meet up with the master himself for a 1-on-1 training session – which he gladly obliged, even giving me some insight on what tower running is all about.
According to him, the average time of a 1,061-step tower run is about 25 minutes – so I planned to complete the race in around the same time.
I started my training in June – one month before the competition – as I wanted to really be in my best form to run up the tower on competition day.
My tower run workout plan included cycling and running on the treadmill for 30 minutes each, daily. I found it incredibly difficult at the beginning, as I wasn’t used to making trips to the gym daily for my exercise routines.
To be completely honest, at some point during my training period, I started skipping visits to the gym every now and then. But to compensate, I did at least 50 push-ups before bed every night.
Over time, my gym attendance began to improve. I figured it must have been the endorphins doing their thing in my brain. I also started looking forward to my gym sessions more because they allowed me to fully focus on training while in my own world.
The day of the competition
Image credit: Dennis Kong
To say that I was nervous on competition day was an understatement. I didn’t sleep a wink the night before. But with all the hard work I’d put in – from dieting to training – I had only one thought running through my head, and that was that I needed to finish this competition in under 25 minutes.
Image credit: Ee Kok Jin
The moment I was flagged off at the starting line, I ran as if my life depended on it. When I hit floor number 10, I began to wonder if I would ever see the top. I had to fight with my own mind throughout the entire race, just to keep myself going.
Approaching point of meltdown right about here.
Image credit: Dennis Kong
On the 27th floor, I actually stopped for a break and contemplated giving up and taking the lift back down to the ground floor.
But as these thoughts of giving up ran through my head, I also began remembering how far I had come from my days as “the fat kid” – somehow, from weighing 108kg in 2020, I had managed to motivate myself into training for and taking on a 1,061-step tower race alongside world class tower runners.
With one last burst of determination, I picked myself up and eventually reached the 47th floor at the 13-minute mark. This came as a huge surprise – I was 12 minutes faster than my target time of 25 minutes.
Being awarded the finisher medal was a moment I would remember for the rest of my life.
Me, Soh Wai Ching, and Jennifer Yee Chin after we completed the Berjaya Times Square 2023 Tower Run.
To some, the medal might just be a shiny piece of metal. But for me, it was a symbol of how, if you believe in something strongly, you can turn it into a reality.
Or, of the commonly-known saying – but with my own twist on it – “When there is a will, there is a highway!”
Determination & discipline brings you far
Looking back at 2019, the me today finds it hard to see why I used to hate and avoid physical activities so passionately. Even when I was meeting up with my friends, I would suggest hangout spots that were close to my university, so I could minimise any journey on foot.
But after forcing myself to stick to routines, beginning with working out daily during the MCO to training for the tower running competition, I’ve realised two things.
First, all it takes is a little bit of determination and discipline to succeed at anything.
And second, putting in even small efforts daily to commit to a daily routine makes tasks seem easier over time. These things work together if you allow them to, and they can take you to places you never imagined you could ever go.
I now tell myself: Regardless of whatever shortcomings I have, I just have to believe that I can overcome them, and I’ll eventually reach any goal I set before me.
P.S.: It’s pretty cool that I can officially tell my kids and grandkids that I once ran all the way up KL’s Berjaya Times Square.
You can also watch my tower running journey here:
This article was written by Dennis Kong.
Cover image adapted from: Dennis Kong, Ee Kok Jin