Race to the top

WATCH out Kiwis, here comes the Ruby CFA and there is one of your own amongst them.
Three Ruby firefighters will contest the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge in the New Zealand city of Auckland in May.
Captain Michael Guest, himself a New Zealander, will be joined by second lieutenant Aaron Perks and firefighter Darren Hardacre in climbing 51 flights of stairs in the 328m Sky Tower.
It is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere and the Aussies are ready for the challenge.
Not only will they climb 1103 individual steps, but will do so wearing 20kg of full firefighting turnout gear with breathing apparatus.
They come fresh from completing the Melbourne Firefighter Stair Climb last year that saw them climb 28 stories of the Crown Metropol Hotel.
“At the top of Crown, we all pretty much thought that went really well and what about doing New Zealand?” Mr Hardacre said.
Kiwi firefighters took part in the Melbourne event to raise money for depression, suicide and post traumatic stress disorder, and encouraged their Aussie friends to return the favour. Mr Guest was eager to do so given he hails from Rotongaro, south of Auckland.
The NZ event, on Saturday, May 19, will raise money for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand and be contested by 900 firefighters.
“We will rattle tins in Auckland on the Friday and on the Saturday is the stair climb,” Mr Hardacre said.
The men have been training at Leongatha gymnasium Voyage Fitness in full turnout gear, with a 20kg weight belt, and were delighted when the gym took delivery of a stair climbing machine recently, following demand from clients.
“We can climb about 51 stories in about 12 minutes without the weight belt on, but it’s no good doing it without replicating the situation,” Mr Hardacre said.
His fitness has improved since beginning training for the Melbourne event last year and he also cited mental benefits.
Look out for the Ruby firies at Voyage Fitness on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
To donate to their NZ fundraising effort, head online to https://firefightersclimb.org.nz and click on ‘Donate’ and search for ‘Ruby CFA’ within the team list.

NZ bound: from left, Ruby CFA firefighters Darren Hardacre, second lieutenant Aaron Perks and captain Michael Guest on the new stair climbing machine at Voyage Fitness in Leongatha, with trainer Scott Lowe (far left). The firefighters are training for the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge in Auckland, New Zealand, in May.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Feb 20 2018. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry