By: Diego Nuñez
“I try not to look down,” said Bob Toews, an experienced stair climber currently ranked 47th in the country. Since Toews started, he has competed in over 30 races in 11 different venues. When asked what the highest race he ever competed in, Toews responded with “the Willis tower” which is a staggering 103 stories and about 2,115 steps. At the not so young age of 54, this is a hard or impossible feat to some, yet Toews still powers through it.
Toews said he has been racing since 2006 and plans to continue into the future with his stair climbing career. When Toews climbed the Willis tower, he said “the first time was relatively easy”, until “the 90th floor”. Toews reported hearing someone say “one more floor” and after he had climbed one more floor Toews said he “walked into an empty room” and then had to get out of the room and continuing on with the race. Toews fastest race was in 13:23 but hopes to make it better. Toews said one day he would like to race up the Eiffel tower. The sky is the limit for Bob Toews and his stair racing career.