Store's staff step up to give cancer cause lift

Regent Countdown workmates will scale Auckland's Sky Tower to raise money for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ. They are Gladys Himiona (left), Victoria Martin, Lui Poutai, David Mohi and Ahdeep Singh. Photo / John Stone

For five Whangarei co-workers a lung-busting, thigh-burning race up Auckland's iconic Sky Tower will be well worth the effort.

The Regent Countdown staff are backing each other in the Skycity's Corporate Sky Tower Stair Challenge tomorrow and have nearly reached their fundraising goal of $5000.

The idea to charge up 1103 stairs in Auckland came after worker Victoria Martin shaved her hair as part of a cancer fundraiser last year after her aunt died from a type of blood cancer.

"When my aunt died it really hit hard and this is something we can do to help others," she said.

Her teammates will also be drawing inspiration from her after Miss Martin took eight hours to run the Great Wall of China Marathon in May with her mother and sister.

"There were 5164 steps on the wall and it was in 30-degree heat. The 1103 in the Sky Tower should be a piece of cake," she said cheekily. "I'm not sure what to really expect but we all wanted a challenge."

The team have been finding plenty of stairs around Whangarei to train on but most have opted to plod their way up Mount Parihaka in preparation for their vertical marathon.

Miss Martin said the team had high hopes for Ahdeep Singh, who they hoped would finish in the top three racers. They have held sausage sizzles and cake stalls to raise money along with donations being taken online.

"It will be well worth it in the end and we are so grateful to everyone who has helped us in some small way," Miss Martin said.

Firefighters have been bustling up the tower stairwells for many years but this is just the fourth time corporate teams have taken up the challenge.

Last year 80 corporate teams raised $251,000 for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand.

-If you would like to donate to the team go online http://bit.ly/1IGj1eN

Taking on the challenge

When Craig Dackers heard Signature Homes was putting in a team to take part in Skycity's Corporate Sky Tower Stair Challenge, he literally jumped in to help.

The owner of Signature Homes in Whangarei has been training for weeks for the fundraiser "Run up the Sky Tower" for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ. Mr Dackers is part of the Signature Homes franchise's five-member squad, with others from Auckland and Hamilton franchises.

He said one of his team had been affected by cancer and he thought the race would be a good challenge.

"It's a great opportunity to raise some money for a good cause, raise awareness and show some support," he said.

While there was a lack of multi-storeyed buildings in Northland to run up and down, he had been practising on three sets of stairs that led to the beach at One Tree Pt.

"The maximum flight is 44 steps and I've been running up and down these a lot. There are 105 steps in total and I've done them all 25 times in one go, so [the challenge] should be a breeze ... hopefully," Mr Dackers said.

He hopes to complete the run in 12 to 15 minutes.

More than 100 teams will take part. So far, the corporate challenge has raised almost $280,000 for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ.

Danae Short, of Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ, said the Signature Homes team was one of the leading fundraisers, this year.