Ilona Gradus’ fantastic form, a proposal at the finish line and 10 thousand zlotys run for a centre for blind children in Sobieszewo – once again it is the Star Challenge of Olivia Business Centre that starts Christmas in Pomerania.
There were surprises and unexpected twists and turns. Cristina Bonacina from Italy, who was tipped as the favorite in the Ultra category, had to acknowledge the sports dominance of Ilona Gradus, who went down in the history of the race for good, also winning the Sprint category.
Emotions accompanied the competitors and fans from the very morning. The first to appear at the start were the Start Challenge runners, whose goal was to overcome as many floors as possible within 120 minutes in the highest building of Polish Northern Olivia Star. Among the ladies, Olga Sobocińska triumphed, running 11 laps, Beata Dembińska was second, and Dominika Witkowska was third.
In the men’s competition, Jacquard Jorsi from France checked in 16 times on the 34th floor, ahead of Mariusz Klapenda and Łukasz Józefiak.
The fastest woman in the Sprint turned out to be Ilona Gradus, who with a time of 5:14.65 left behindKatarzyna Butowska and Katarzyna Wróbel. The fastest man, Mateusz Marunowski , took 3:47.50 minutes to cover 180 meters on 723 stairs. Right behind him at the finishing line appeared Kacper Mrowiec and Mickael Pourcelot.
In Ultra, the favorites did not disappoint. On the podium stood Ilona Gradus, Cristina Bonacina and Katarzyna Butowska. Another Star Challenge statuette was collected by Mickael Pourcelot, ahead of Paweł Zakowicz and Piotr Dembicki.
– In the Olivia Business Centre Residents’ Cup
, the AirHelp team, composed of Jan Meisner, Jakub Dulko and Ariadana Martines,
turned out to be beyond the reach of their rivals . The next places on the podium were taken by two relay teams representing the company Thyssenkrup. The fight was fierce and even, and the main prize in this year’s edition of the event was a sculpture made and awarded by the artist Alicja Stańska, Grzegorz Cysewski and Miłosława Śliwińska“A jumper with the little charges of the centre in Sobieszewo ,” says Dagmara Rybicka, Communication Manager at Olivia Business Centre.
There were also moments of emotion. There were red roses, music, champagne, confetti and a proposal at the very top, which was chosen by a participant of the Uniformed category, a firefighter from Sobieszewo. When he heard this, there seemed to be no end to the applause. The elements of the unique setting of the event were taken care of by Olivia Star Top, the operator of the top three floors in Olivia Star.
– We are very pleased that our space exudes a good aura and is conducive to such special moments. After all, Olivia Star is not only a place for business meetings, but also for unforgettable moments with your loved ones – explains Krystyna Hartenberger – Pater Head of International Sales, Marketing & PR.
The primacy in the Uniformed category belonged to Iwona Kowalska (6:51) and Piotr Dembicki (4:06)
The originator and organizer of the event is Olivia Business Centre. The combination of sports competition with the passion to help once again under the aegis of the International Towerrunning Federation meant that representatives of France, Italy, Belarus, Great Britain, Russia and Polish entered the start of this unique race.
– I’m very impressed with the competition in Gdansk. I’ve run in different places around the world, but I admit that Olivia Business Centre will be the place where I’ll be happy to come back next year. It was very good that I was able to compete for a good cause and help blind children with my passion for running – said Cristina Bonacina from Italy.
In total, all the competitors ran 10 thousand zlotys for the Centre in Sobieszewo. As they emphasized at the finish line, it was the awareness of who they were running for that added motivation, because there was no shortage of difficult moments on the route.
– We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for a beautiful day and a lot of good that we managed to bring out of people’s hearts. We hope that this is the beginning of a common adventure and meetings in Sobieszewo. The runners and Olivia Business Centre gave the children and their families a wonderful, unforgettable surprise, and the collected funds are a great help for us – emphasized Sister Ida, the founder and leader of the Center.
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The Honorary Patrons of the second edition of the Star Challenge are the Mayor of the City of Gdańsk and the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Media patronage: trojmiasto.pl, Radio Gdańsk, Together and Dziennik Bałtycki. The partners of the event are Alior Bank, Bayer, DoSportNow.com, Advertis, Bergson, MacLife, STBU Insurance Brokers, BMG Goworowski, InDreams, Eska radio, Złote Przeboje radio, gdansk.pl, Towerrunning World Association.
