Running
Hate it when the lift breaks? Try strapping on a GoPro and racing up 3,333 steps in under an hour.
"Don't worry, I'll take the stairs." Do you know some of these people, or are you perhaps one of them? You know, the type of person who constantly refuses to take the lift or escalators, wanting to move their legs a little bit more at every opportunity they get?
Well, next time, tell them about Red Bull Haku Ryu Sou, a race up 3,333 steps in the prefecture of Kumamoto, Japan.
Having a hard time figuring out how long, or how high 3,333 steps are? Just picture this: the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, is 160 storeys high and has 2,909 steps. To make the frame of reference even clearer, the building stands at 828m tall. It's three times as tall as the Eiffel Tower and nearly twice as tall as the Empire State Building.
Now back to our stairs: spreaded over 2km and with an elevation gain of 600m in the middle of the beautiful but humid forests of southern Japan, the stairs of Haku Ryu Sou are nothing less than an ordeal. Especially when you're trying to go as fast as your body can take you.
Participants have 60 minutes to complete the challenge – and not everyone makes it! The fastest runners may need only 25 minutes to complete the race (being a pro ultra-runner has its perks), our reporter finished the race in 51 minutes, ranking right in the middle of the pack (366/640).
Still wonder how it feels? Take a look at the video above and see for yourself!