If you’ve ever felt virtuous skipping the lift to trudge up a single set of stairs, imagine the exhaustion and euphoria of slogging up 51 flights.
The Bryan family have been putting in the hard yards to prepare for the Sky Tower Challenge, an annual fundraiser for blood cancer research that sees firefighters race to the top of Auckland’s tallest building in full kit.
The family is split across two brigades. Bec Bryan is part of Motueka’s volunteer brigade, while her husband Marcus Bryan and their 17-year-old daughter Amelia Bryan serve with the Tasman Voluntary Rural Brigade. While couples have taken part before, Bec reckons they are the first mum/ dad/ daughter combination to tackle the challenge together.
Part of the family’s motivation comes from the diagnosis of a close family member, with Bec sharing that they are banding together to “help his fight for more time”.
With 1103 steps ahead of them, competitors wear either full structural firefighting kit including a breathing apparatus (BA), or, for rural brigades, carry a 20kg fire hose. To prepare, the family has been training five days a week.
Bec says much of that training has involved tackling 100 flights on the Motueka Recreation Centre gym’s stairmaster, BA firmly in place. They have also taken their preparation outdoors, climbing Ben Nevis, Mount Robert and Mount Campbell in recent months.
The family is feeling both excited and anxious as the event approaches. For Amelia, it will be her first Sky Tower Challenge, while Marcus has completed it twice and Bec three times.
“We know what we are in for,” she says. She had, in fact, sworn last year was her final race, but when Amelia expressed an interest, she knew she had to give it another shot. She is hoping to reach the top in 20 minutes. Marcus has set himself a goal of 16, and Amelia is eager to just finish.
The Sky Tower Challenge began in 1998 and now raises more than $1.5 million nationally each year for blood cancer research.
Participating brigades are set a fundraising target of $5000. While the smaller Tasman rural team of three members is still working towards that goal, the Motueka brigade, with eight participants, has already raised more than $11,400 – hot on the heels of Richmond and Brightwater.
Together, the family has raised funds through a movie night at Motueka’s State Cinema and a superhero roller disco, and they are also welcoming the community to join their bingo night at Motueka’s RSA this Saturday, 16 May, at 7pm.
