The Eiffel Tower Vertical Race

The Eiffel Tower Vertical Race - Polish elite runner Piotr Lobodzinski has claimed victory by climbing the 1,665 stairs in under 8 minutes. Lobodzinki finished the competition almost a full minute ahead of the runner in second place, Austrian Jakob Mayer. The Eiffel Tower Vertical race is a unique running event with as many as 130 competitors, comprising of 40 elite athletes, 80 amateurs and 10 wildcards, all try to scale the 276-metre structure's stairs as fast as possible. According to its website around 7 million people visit the Eiffel Tower each year. The monument is considered a symbol of both France and its capital, Paris. It was designed and built by engineer Gustave Eiffel for the Universal Exhibition of 1889.