Tower Running: Tokei Club and Fire Department Team Hold Joint Practice Ahead of Monthly Meet
The Tokei Tower Running Club and the Fire Department team held joint practice at the Kyobashi head office building on the 14th, ahead of this month's monthly meet, the 88th overall. Daichi Tarumi, 38, winner of the previously reported September meet, and Seira Koda, 24, of the Fire Department team, who holds the rookie record, ran the same stairwell side by side.
The Tokei Tower Running Club and the Fire Department team have held monthly joint practices for three years. The 14th fell about two weeks before this month's meet, the 88th overall, and roughly 20 participants turned out — more than usual. As previously reported, at the September 25 meet Daichi Tarumi, 38, won for the fifth time this season, climbing 42 floors in 11 minutes 32 seconds, while the Fire Department's Seira Koda, 24, set an all-time rookie record (fastest by a competitor with under a year's experience) at 42 floors in 11 minutes 58 seconds.
"Everyone climbs stairs differently," Tarumi said. "I think of joint practice less as competing and more as time to watch and learn from each other's climbing." Koda recalled, "Running right behind Tarumi, you can tell where he catches his breath. A lot of what helped me set the rookie record came from these joint sessions." The Fire Department team has taken part in the monthly meet for three years as part of fitness training geared toward high-rise rescue work, and several active firefighters joined the practice newly this time.
The next monthly meet is set for later this month at the same Kyobashi building. The Tokei club said, "We're looking forward to seeing how the joint practice pays off on the day."
