Almost 500 runners gathered in Place Ville Marie (PVM) 1 on Wednesday morning to race up the stairs of Montreal’s fourth tallest skyscraper, all this to raise money for charity. The 16th annual RBC Challenge for Centraide pitted a relay team of top Olympic and Paralympic athletes against 47 other relay teams, mainly formed from local offices, to try race up 1013 steps to the building’s 41st floor in an attempt to break the all-time record of 2 minutes 41 seconds.
The athletes included snowboarder Caroline Calvé (3rd on World Cup circuit), kayaker Hugues Fournel (7th at London Olympics), freestyle skier Marc-Antoine Gagnon (5th at 2012 World Cup) and para-cyclist Marie-Claude Molnar (bronze medallist at London Paralympics), were captained by Mikaël Kingsbury, freestyle skiing world champion and Olympic hopeful for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.
In the end, the athletes finished behind a team of employees from RBC. That RBC team did the run in 2 minutes 44 seconds while the athletes came in second place, with a time of 3 minutes 7 seconds.
All of this raised a record $180,000 for the local offices of Centraide (known as “The United Appeal” outside of Quebec). All the proceeds of this sporting event will be donated to Centraide Campaign 2013. The goal of this campaign is to raise $58.5 million by December 18 to support a vast network of 369 community agencies that help half-a-million vulnerable people in Montreal, in Laval and on the South Shore.
“This will be more difficult than London [Paralympics in 2012]!” joked Molnar as she positioned herself on the 15th floor, waiting for Fournel to reach her floor before starting. “I will be running fast up 10 levels of stairs; about 200 steps. I have done no specific training for this event, but still feel ready for it!”
Molnar, who is also a non-competitive speed skater and cross-country skier, works for RBC as an “ambassador.” She was the victim of a serious driving accident in 2005 but her love of sports brought her into para-cycling where she finished second in the C4 category at the 2013 UCI World Championships in Baie Comeau, QC.
“I always like to raise money for good causes,” commented Nancy Richardson of Financial Planning West Island on Sources Blvd. “I did no training whatsoever; I’m just here to raise money,” typifying the attitude of many less-competitive participants. Her team apparently reached the top in 4:10.
The all-time record of 2:41 stands from 2003, but The Times is uncertain which team established this time. Place Ville Marie stands 47 stories or 188 m (617 ft) above University Street–almost as high as Mount Royal. When it was completed in 1962, was the highest building in the former British Commonwealth. Today, it is the fourth highest building in Montreal after 1000 de la Gauchetiere, 1250 Rene Levesque, and Tour de la Bourse.
Centraide (for donations online):
