Chinese competitor Ye Zhaoyang won the championship title in the elite men's group of the 2023 International Vertical Marathon, with a new record of 16 min 23 sec.

Top three winners of the elite men's group accept the prizes. [Photo/WeChat account: tianhefabu]

Vertical marathons are when athletes scale stairs to the top of a tall man-made structure.

This year's final took place on Dec 3 in the Guangzhou CTF Finance Center, which is also known as the Canton East Tower in Tianhe district. It has a vertical height of 530 meters, 109 floors, and a total of 3,160 steps.

Some 1,000 competitors from 10 countries and regions participated in the event.

Zhou Qinglan won the gold medal in the elite women's group, with a time of 21:24. Chen Qiyi and Zhang Ting won the men's and women's open group in 21:10 and 22:29, respectively.

Competitors during the 2023 the International Vertical Marathon finals. [Photo/WeChat account: tianhefabu]