Race to the Roof run and won at Redcliffe

Mitch with the winner’s trophy

Physiotherapist Mitch Robbins is now a two-time winner of Redcliffe Hospital’s Race to the Roof.

The annual race at Redcliffe Hospital sees staff go head-to-head in a race up the staircase to the top of hospital’s main building.

Twenty competitors lined up for the race this year, which involves a timed sprint up the six-storey stairwell, run by most competitors in under 30 seconds.

Mitch scaled the staircase in an impressive time of 22.86 seconds, having won the race for the first time in 2019.

“I was definitely more confident having run it before. This year, I had a tew techniques and tactics in mind that I really helped my time,” he said.

“I’d heard that Olly from Occupational Therapy had been training specifically for the event, so he was my main competition.

“In the end, there was less than a second between us.”

Olly Haug, who is also one of the race organisers, congratulated Mitch on the win.

“The two of us are basically the Federer and Nadal of stair climbing. I’ll be back for that trophy next year,” Olly said.

When he’s not racing to the roof, Mitch’s work as a physiotherapist sees him splitting his time between the hospital’s intensive care unit and medical wards.

“My day to day work primarily involves rehabilitating people, getting them up and moving, helping patients to recover their mobility and independence after acute illnesses have set them back,” Mitch said.

“We also work with patients to improve their breathing. We do that through education, positioning, airway clearance techniques and sometimes suctioning when they aren’t strong enough to cough themselves.”

He says the physio team were mostly pretty pleased with the win, and glad to have the trophy back in the department.

“Mostly they were pretty happy and congratulated me for holding up the physio reputation. I think some others were half happy, half annoyed I had won on my first go back without having much current running training under my belt.”

Race to the Roof is arranged each year by the hospital’s REDDY Fun and Fitness team, staff who volunteer to run events that keep everyone active.