Several family members and friends being diagnosed with leukaemia has motivated Brendon Guthrie to step up for a good cause.
The Thames man will take part in the public Sky Tower Step Up Challenge to raise funds for the Leukaemia and Blood Cancer Foundation on August 4.
It’s a cause close to his heart, after the disease impacted several close family and friends over the years.
“We’ve got one of our family members, a cousin, who’s just been diagnosed a couple of months ago, and we’ve had several family members before being diagnosed,” he said.
“It just makes me train a bit harder.”
Brendon aims to climb Auckland Sky Tower’s 1103 steps over 71 floors to raise awareness and funds for the cause.
He planned to raise $1 per step but has already raised around $2600 by selling raffle tickets and holding sausage sizzles in the main street of Thames over the past six months or so, he said.
“I would like to thank all the local businesses that supplied me with prizes in my last raffle,” he said.
“People that I’ve been talking to have been really generous and helpful.”
He plans to continue raising funds until the day of the challenge through his fundraising page on the stepupchallenge.org.nz website.
Brendon, who is not a firefighter, heard about the public challenge on the radio last year. He was keen to take up the challenge when he learned it was open to the public, and not just for firefighters, who do their own annual fundraising Sky Tower Challenge in May.
“I didn’t realise they had a public version,” he said.
“I thought ‘oh, I thought only the fire brigade did it’, but then I looked into it a little bit more and… emailed them and asked them when the next one was.”
Brendon’s no stranger to pushing his limits, having run a marathon and several half marathons previously.
But training for the step up challenge was different, he said.
More than 30 colourful steps of Jacob’s Ladder in Thames have dominated his training over the past year. Three or four times a week he runs from his Tararu home, runs to the top of Jacob’s Ladder and back six times, then runs home.
On top of that, he also does callisthenics, such as squats and leg thrusts; and runs up the stairs three or four steps at a time at his work sorting recycling for Smart Environmental.
He said his legs were feeling strong now, but not when he first started.
“I thought I’d do better because I’ve done a couple of halves and a marathon but this is totally different training.
“I had to get out of my head marathon and half marathon training, which is distance, and this one I have to do stamina, which is slightly different, and leg strength.”
Brendon hasn’t set himself a time to complete the challenge on the day.
“I’m just really looking forward to it,” he said.
“I just want to get up there without collapsing.”
DETAILS: To support Brendon’s campaign, donate at: www.stepupchallenge.org.nz/brendon-guthrie.
