A Dubai dad has successfully managed to climb the height of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa at home in less than five hours.
With his son strapped to his back, the former Marine walked up and down his stairs 118 times, which is the equivalent of climbing the world’s tallest tower.
It took four hours and 43 minutes for father-of-two, Nick Watson, who carried Rio, a person of determination, on his back, to complete the lofty challenge.
The idea behind the challenge was to inspire people to stay at home, stay safe and stay fit during the Covid-19 pandemic and, as part of the initiative, Watson and Rio encouraged people from all over the world to get involved and take on their own climb-a-thon, by choosing an iconic landmark, without having to leave their homes.
Thousands of people joined the Team Angel Wolf challenge, helping to participate in their own way over the weekend via Instagram and Facebook live.
Schools challenged their children and entire families walked together up and down the stairs of their homes to see how many times the combined efforts could complete the Burj Khalifa climb. There was also lots of support from around the world.
Talking about the amazing feat, Watson said: ‘’This has been completely different to what we have ever experienced before in a race or a challenge; even though we, and, hundreds of others, did the challenge separately, there was a real sense of togetherness and not being alone; which feels unique at the moment. I have to admit it was four hours and 43 minutes of pure discomfort yet pure joy; as however uncomfortable it got (and it did) Rio totally motivated and fueled me, his excitement, enthusiasm and appreciation of each given moment gave me energy to keep going.”
“I can not express how grateful we are to all those in our global community that came together and embraced the challenge of Climb With Rio and took it on in their own way, safely at home… I am speechless; thank you. We are very proud of every single person that gave the challenge a go,” he said.
