A Brantford athlete has notched his fifth win at the annual World Wildlife Fund Canada CN Tower Climb for Nature on Sunday.
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Tyler Kruschenske ascended the 144 flights of stairs – a total of 1,776 steps – in 10 minutes and 55 seconds to finish first in the Elite Climb Challenge.
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“I’m pretty pumped about it,” Kruschenske said, describing himself as a hybrid athlete. “I like to dip my toes in different fitness events like the CN Tower Climb. I mainly race in Spartan races and tough mudders.”
To prepare for an event like the CN Tower Climb, he builds up his cardio base by cycling, running, mixing up training with long and short runs, speed sessions, and a lot of hills. Stair Master machines and inclines on a treadmill on an incline help make his legs better prepared to climb the CN Tower.
Kruschenske’s finish on Sunday was his fifth time winning the event in the past decade.
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“It’s a race against time, unlike the Rotary Classic Run. It’s basically just me, the stairwell, and the time,” he shared. “The 6 am people were the ones who signed up for the Elite Climb thinking they could do it in under 15 minutes.”
Elite Climb participants have a staggered start to avoid jam-ups of people in the narrow stairwells.
More than 5,000 people took part in the fundraising event over the weekend, raising $1.53 million for conservation efforts to protect and restore nature, reverse wildlife loss, and fight climate change.
“This is the most funds raised in the CN Tower Climb for Nature’s 32-year history, which is a testament to how deeply people care about nature and wildlife,” said WWF Canada president and CEO Megan Leslie.
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Kruschenske’s best-ever time is 10 minutes and 19 seconds. His ultimate goal is to finish in less than 10 minutes.
“I was the only one who went less than 11 minutes, so I was pretty happy with that.”
He recently won a running event at Blue Mountain in Collingwood that involved a three-hour max elevation challenge, doing five-kilometer loops.
“I’m on a bit of a streak right now,” he said. “This (tower climb) is the one where I have to put in the very most effort in the shortest amount of time. It is only 10 minutes, whereas I’ve done a 12-hour overnight obstacle course race, and a 50-kilometer Ultra Beast spartan race.”
He was also the only Canadian on the podium at an inaugural Spartan Race in Fiji in 2023, finishing second overall in the 50-kilometer event that took more than six hours to complete.
The 37-year-old obstacle course racer began running at the age of 22 but didn’t get into endurance-type events until the age of 27.
“I just like the overall challenge,” he shared of his love for Spartan racing. “You can’t just be a good runner, you have to develop good upper body strength so you can climb ropes and walls, carry heavy sandbags and logs. You have to be a well-rounded athlete, and it makes training more fun putting in time with different areas of fitness.”
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