IHH Sky Race 2026: 2,845 Steps, Four Inspiring Stories

There are easier ways to spend a weekend than climbing 2,845 steps.

But on 27 August 2026, 7,887 people decided that climbing 118 floors of Menara Merdeka Maybank, Malaysia’s tallest building, sounded like a perfectly good idea.

Welcome to The IHH Sky Race 2026.

Held during Merdeka month, the annual tower climb takes participants all the way up to Level 118 of the Merdeka 118 Precinct. And while the view from the top is undoubtedly a big draw, this year’s race proved that the real stories were happening somewhere between the first step and the finish line.

Because sometimes, getting to the top is about much more than fitness.

Meet the 8-year-old who took on 118 floors

At just eight years old, Chua Ze Yu was the youngest participant to make it to the top.

He took on the team category with his mum and dad, after agreeing to give the challenge a go. For a month before race day, the family trained together every Tuesday at their apartment, practising short stair climbs.

His preparation paid off.

Ze Yu completed the 118-floor climb in 1:11:13, and his post-race attitude was almost as impressive as the climb itself.

If he got tired, he said, he could simply rest and continue.

Honestly, there are adults who could probably learn something from that.

His advice for fellow Malaysians this Merdeka? Stay healthy, stay safe and try new things. He is already keen to get his friends to join him next year.

At 81, Melita Kit is still climbing

If Ze Yu proved that you’re never too young to start, Melita Kit showed that you’re certainly never too old to keep going.

At 81, Kit completed all 118 floors in 1:25:52.

She already had a pretty solid fitness routine before signing up. Every morning at 7:45, she joins more than 20 friends and neighbours for an hour of walking, hiking and exercise. She also spent two months training on Saturdays at an MBPJ tower before race day.

Her reaction after reaching the top?

“I am very proud, you know.”

And she should be.

Her Merdeka message was equally straightforward: start young, stay active and never stop moving.

Malaysia Boleh, indeed.

Jeff Linton travelled from Chicago for the challenge

Then there was Jeff Linton, who travelled all the way from Chicago to take on his first major tower climb outside the United States.

Linton lost both legs in a train accident when he was 21. Rather than letting that define what he could or could not do, he went on to tackle some of the world's most famous stair climbs, including Chicago’s Sears Tower and the Empire State Building.

The IHH Sky Race brought him to Malaysia for the first time.

After more than 24 hours of travelling, including a gruelling 15-hour leg from Atlanta to Seoul, he arrived to discover that Malaysia's heat and humidity were, in his words, “brutal”.

Still, he climbed.

He paused four times and completed the 118 floors in 1:01:45.

His motivation was refreshingly simple. He wanted the challenge of climbing the second-tallest building in the world so that he could say he had done it.

And apparently, Malaysia itself became part of the reward. Despite the long journey and the heat, Linton said the people he met were wonderful and that the experience had been well worth it.

Sometimes, the hardest part is simply starting

Perhaps the most relatable story belongs to Subohthini Alagesan, whose IHH Sky Race journey almost ended before it began.

She was introduced to the race by her friend Liyana, a two-time participant, and signed up for this year's event. Then, just two weeks before race day, everything went sideways.

Food poisoning left her dehydrated and without her voice. She was subsequently diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. Pulling out seemed like the obvious choice.

But two days before the event, she changed her mind. “Why give up before I even try?”

So she showed up with one modest goal: to see how far she could go. Somewhere between the first floor and the 118th, that goal changed.

She decided to finish.

After 2:49:31, she crossed the finish line and, in the process, discovered something she perhaps hadn't expected to find in a tower climb: Malaysians cheering each other on.

Fellow participants encouraged her and climbed alongside her.

“That was the cherry on top,” she said, describing the experience as a reminder of the Malaysian spirit: we lift each other up and leave no one behind.

And perhaps that's the best takeaway from the IHH Sky Race 2026. You don't always need to know that you can reach the top.  Sometimes, you just need enough courage to take the first step.

2,845 steps later...

The IHH Sky Race may be billed as the World's Biggest Tower Climb, but its 2026 edition felt like something bigger than a race.

There was an eight-year-old taking on his first major challenge with his parents. An 81-year-old proving that age is no excuse to stop moving. A double amputee flying halfway around the world for a new challenge. And a participant who nearly pulled out but decided to see what she was capable of instead.

All of them started at the bottom.

All of them had to take the same 2,845 steps.

And all of them had their own reason for wanting to reach the top.

With Stadium Merdeka, where Malaysia's independence was declared in 1957, and Merdeka 118, the country's modern architectural landmark, standing side by side, the setting couldn't have been more fitting.

After all, Merdeka is about more than looking back at how far we've come.

Sometimes, it's about seeing how much further we can go.

One step at a time.