Update: It didn't go well, partly because I was sharing a lift and had to wait for it, but mostly because I did the Silverstone half marathon on the Sunday before it, and that took a lot more out of my legs than I expected. By floor 5 I knew I was in trouble. By 10 I knew the 1Km/h record wasn't going to happen and by 50 I wondered if I'd be able to finish the vertical mile at all. By floor 80 my legs had turned to wood and by floor 180, stone. Around floor 340 (of 510) they were jelly, but I kept going, needing to stop to rest (unlike last year) and struggled on to finish the 1020 flights of stairs and 9020 steps in 3:12:33 - about half the speed I'd been doing in training. To put it on context, I completed 9 ascents in under 100mins last year, so that extra ascent of 542ft/165m took an additional 92 minutes..!


So, a failure in terms of speed, but a success in terms of completing it when I really - eyes burning with sweat - really - legs falling off - really - despondently waiting for the lift - didn't want to.


A sincere thank you to all the kind folks who've supported me and if my story of 'plucky Brit in abject failure' has moved you to bung a penny per floor Shelter's way, that would be awesome, as I've yet to hit my fundraising target. If I don't reach £180, I have to make up the difference myself and I have already paid £40 (plus £20 petrol, £8.80 train ticket etc) to take part. Times are tough, I know but if you can find a spare fiver, or even a pound...


Cheers again to those who've been so lovely - it didn't speed me up on the day, but it did stop me quitting.

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On March the 5th I'll be attempting to set an official Guinness World Record for Tower Running again, by running up the 902 steps, 102 flights, 51 floors and 165m/541ft of London's Tower 42 again, for Shelter. Not just once though - TEN TIMES IN SUCCESSION! The only break I'll get is just over a minute in the lift to catch my breath as I'm rushed to the bottom of the tower to start again. Read about my 2012 attempt here: http://www.justgiving.com/verticalmile

I hope you can support my efforts for a worthy charity as it does help me stay motivated and focused, knowing I'm doing something worthy while doing something stupid, painful and unpleasant!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now - Sincerely,

Paul