Sprightly senior to run to top of Sky Tower

Stairs can sometimes prove troublesome for those getting on in years, but Maxine Rutherford, 68, refuses to be intimidated by them.

The Warkworth volunteer firefighter will join nine others from her brigade to tackle the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge to raise funds for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.

The effort will see Maxine and her team run up the 1,103 stairs to the top of Auckland’s Sky Tower wearing full firefighting kit and breathing apparatus weighing up to 25kg.

“I like a challenge every now and then,” Maxine says.

She says in addition to the heavy kit, the effort must be completed wearing gumboots. It will be the fourth time Maxine has taken on the Stair Challenge. She says she hopes to beat her previous time of 35 minutes.

Fellow firefighter Nicole Banks, who sadly cannot participate this year due to a foot injury, says training together for the Stair Challenge has been a great team building exercise and excellent for team fitness.

And while the ability to quickly mount lots of stairs is probably more relevant to inner city brigades, it could have practical benefits in Warkworth, now that the Oaks on Neville retirement village is nearing completion. So far, the Warkworth Brigade has raised more than $2,700 for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer

New Zealand through sausage sizzles, selling drinks and ice blocks, a raffle and allowing children to hop into a fire truck in return for a gold coin donation.

Almost 1,000 firefighters from nearly 200 brigades will take part in the Stair Challenge, including firefighters from the Leigh and Wellsford volunteer brigades.

To donate visit firefightersclimb.org.nz.