We totally conquered the tower. Yesterday, a team of five Londonistas sprinted, then walked, then paused, then inched, then wheezed, then walked, then sprinted again up the 920 steps of Tower 42, the tallest building in the Square Mile. We gave it our all in the name of raising money for Shelter's Vertical Rush, but failed to get anywhere near the winning times. The fastest ascent of all came from Jahn Matthias with a knee-buckling 4 minutes 22 seconds. That's just over six seconds per floor - all the way up. Londonist travelled at a more stately pace. Our mean time was something like 10.20, but kudos to Londonista James who scaled the heights in 8.06. More importantly, we raised £1700 for Shelter, making us one of the top few donors. Thanks to all the readers who sponsored us, and it's not too late to retrospectively add a few pence to the cause. Shelter need every nickel to help house the hundreds of thousands without permanent accommodation in London alone.
With special thanks to Mike King and John Wilkes for the excellent photographs.
