After setting a new record at last year's Skylon Tower Stair Climb for Cancer, Florida's Troy Alston set another one for the event's 25th anniversary Saturday. PHOTO: John Law / Niagara Falls Review

Troy Alston, an internationally ranked competitive tower runner, of Jacksonville, FL, races up the stairs at the Topeka Tower’s 5th Annual Tower Run on Saturday morning.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation hosted the first annual CF Climb event on a recent Saturday -  Aug. 20 at Roger Dean Stadium in Abacoa.

When Jacksonville’s Troy Alston visits Niagara Falls in Canada next April, he will do more than defend his title in the Stair Climb for Cancer at Skylon Tower.

Winning the race overall was Troy Alston, 27, setting a course record with a time of 4:24. Alston has participated in the Jacksonville Fight for Air Climb every year since 2011. This was his fifth victory as the fastest climber overall. Each year, he graciously accepts his trophy, believing strongly that, “every individual should constantly be trying to improve themselves because we have so much untapped potential.”

Troy Alston’s teammates headed to the locker room, without him. The hurdle relay team finished in fifth place, and his teammates blamed him for the team’s poor performance. The team said his last-minute adjustment to the team’s hurdle time caused it to fail.

Stair Climb for Caner

Train with Troy 

Professional Stair Climber Troy Alston

Troy Alston of Jacksonville, Florida, is the new record holder for the annual Stair Climb for Cancer at the Skylon Tower. On Saturday he did the climb in 3:21, beating Gord Singleton's mark from 1984 by three seconds. PHOTO: John Law / Niagara Falls Review

Troy Alston, a 28-year-old from Jacksonville, was among those invited to the tower last weekend for something that might as well be called the "Lung Buster:" a race up the 1,455 steps.

In 2012 I was invited to Bogota, Colombia for the Towerrunning World Cup Final. Before I left I had the honor of being featured in the Jacksonville based fitness magazine 904 Fitness. Bogota was my first international competition and a very good learning experience!! I found the race to be rather difficult considering the city itself sits 2,500 meters above sea level. Since my race in Colombia I started training with an altitude training mask to mimic conditions such as Colombia.

In June of 2013 I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Europe where I competed in my second international race. International races are the best, GOD willing I'm looking forward to many more with much better results.

Bratislava, Slovakia