A climbing competition was held in Zhangjiajie City of central China's Hunan Province on Sunday, with 40 professional runners rushing to cover all the 999 steps of the "Stairway to Heaven" in the picturesque Tianmen Mountain.
The Tianmen Mountain is famous for the thrilling stairway, extending 300 meters and featuring an average slope of 45 degrees and a vertical distance of 150 meters.
The rain and fog posed an additional challenge to the competition and every step was to test the participants' endurance, patience and physical strength.
Ye Zhaoyang from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region won the men's title, while Zhang Gejun from east China's Shandong Province won the women's race.
"I feel extraordinarily excited. I'm still very nervous because the climbing route is really difficult, and I was not very well prepared. Although I won the competition, I'm yet to calm down and am still excited, feeling if I were running to the heavy. It's really thrilling," said Ye.
"I like such climbing competitions because they are fun and challenging. I think it's much better than the track I usually run on. I'm fond of such competitions, especially those in scenic spots. Zhangjiajie is very beautiful. If the competition is held next year, I will come again for sure," said Zhang
Some 800 amateur runners took part in another running competition on a winding road in the Tianmen Mountain on Sunday morning.
Zhangjiajie hosts 999-step stairway climbing competition
