Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

On The Up: Hawke’s Bay firefighters tackle Auckland’s Sky Tower Challenge

Michaela Gower
By Michaela Gower
Multimedia Journalist, Hawke's Bay Today·Hawkes Bay Today·
26 May, 2025 03:28 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The new video streaming show will be available on the NZ Herald website and YouTube.

With Metallica blasting in his ears and a photo of his late nephew on his back, nothing was going to stop Central Hawke’s Bay fireman Mark Bean climbing 1103 steps and 51 flights of stairs to the top of Auckland’s Sky Tower.

Bean, who works in the butchery at New World in Waipukurau, has been a volunteer firefighter for 24 years.

He took on his third climb on Saturday to raise funds for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand.

As of Monday at 1.30pm, Bean had raised $4232, which contributed to the $1,927,692 raised by firefighters across the country, with donations still being counted.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Mark Bean completed the 2025 Auckland Skytower Challenge with a photo of his nephew Jordan Jackson on his cylinder.
Mark Bean completed the 2025 Auckland Skytower Challenge with a photo of his nephew Jordan Jackson on his cylinder.

The 55-year-old said his motivation for the gruelling physical and mental challenge was to honour his nephew Jordan Jackson, who died from leukaemia in 2003, aged 10.

“He was a gentle critter, he was a really neat kid, had a heart of gold, and he would have had a pretty good future ahead of him as being a loyal mate to someone.”

Bean previously climbed the tower in 2012 with a time of 20 minutes 41 seconds to the top and again in 2015, which took him 18 minutes 28 seconds.

He said he was “pretty stoked” with his time this year and despite his casual approach to training, he reached the top in 21 minutes and 55 seconds.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“I put bugger-all training in ... I walked the dog every day.

“I started off with a hiss and a roar and went up Pukeora Hill once, and I did four or five times going up and down the Hunter Park climb in the township.”

He said the hardest part was not the challenge itself, but the nerves in the lead-up before the start line.

“I thought, ‘what the hell am I doing here?’

“I knew why I was there, but I knew it was going to be a lot tougher than it had been in the past.”

Brad Edwards dedicated his Sky Tower Challenge climb to 4-year-old Zack Guest.
Brad Edwards dedicated his Sky Tower Challenge climb to 4-year-old Zack Guest.

Fellow Waipukurau firefighter Brad Edwards dedicated his climb to 4-year-old Zack Guest from Cambridge, who is battling leukaemia.

Edwards completed the firefighter of steel category, where he carried a steel cylinder, which equalled an extra 9kg of weight, in just over 18 minutes.

He also gained an extra little weight during the race to the top in the form of Guest’s favourite soft toy “Sheepie”.

“As I came out of the tower to do my lap around the outside, Zack walked out and gave me a toy to carry up to the top of the tower.”

Edwards raised $6833 and said a total of 52 firefighters from Hawke’s Bay took part.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Woman charged with injuring pedestrian after allegedly driving into him

28 May 02:33 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

HBRC unveils new flood management plan for Wairoa River

28 May 12:58 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Road re-opens: One critical in Napier-Taupō road crash

27 May 10:37 PM

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Woman charged with injuring pedestrian after allegedly driving into him

Woman charged with injuring pedestrian after allegedly driving into him

28 May 02:33 AM

Police have charged a 43-year-old woman after a pedestrian was injured.

HBRC unveils new flood management plan for Wairoa River

HBRC unveils new flood management plan for Wairoa River

28 May 12:58 AM
Road re-opens: One critical in Napier-Taupō road crash

Road re-opens: One critical in Napier-Taupō road crash

27 May 10:37 PM
Teen launches nationwide campaign to combat period poverty

Teen launches nationwide campaign to combat period poverty

27 May 06:00 PM
Explore the hidden gems of NSW
sponsored

Explore the hidden gems of NSW

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP