The 21st annual Engineering Stairs race may not have broken any records, but it did bring one new feature: high school relay teams participated for the first time. A total of 111 competitors and 54 relay teams of all categories lined up at the start on November 12. The race has been held at FME since 2000 and is traditionally organized by the Student Chamber of the FME Academic Senate together with volunteers.

This year's race was started by the rector's relay team, followed by the FME management relay team. The morning belonged to individual competitors, while in the afternoon, another 52 four-member relay teams took turns on the stairs in the student and VIP categories and, for the first time, in the high school category. Five teams from four high schools arrived at the faculty.

An interesting feature of this year's event was the ongoing research by colleagues from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at FEEC, who, together with students of biomedicine and sports technology, used the competing volunteers for their measurements. Specifically, they measured ECG, movement signals, and muscle oxygen saturation. In addition to prizes and the good feeling of competing, the participating runners also received feedback on their performance.

The fastest runners in each category received a sweet reward in the afternoon in the form of medals, appreciative applause, and prizes. In the male and female student categories, there was no change in the gold medal positions, with Nela Hrdličková and Lukáš Preisler taking home the most valuable metal, just like last year. The winning relay teams, Stará garda and Young guns, also maintained their positions. Adam Kopec was the fastest among the male graduates, and the BROSCHMANI team from Blansko performed best among the high school students.

The winners in each category were:

Complete race results can be found here.

Along with the races, the Strojárna až na dřeň ("Engineering to the Core") event also took place after a year's hiatus. Thirty-five newcomers registered with the Czech Registry of Blood Cell Donors. The race itself also has a charitable dimension, with this year's entry fee of CZK 24,160 going towards toys for child patients at Brno University Hospital.

Congratulations to the winners and all the other competitors who pushed themselves and gave their all in the race! We would like to thank the Student Chamber of the Academic Senate of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering for the excellent organization and all the sponsors for their support of the event.

You can find the complete photo gallery on the SKAS FSI Facebook page here and here.