Clay Gulliver's travels fire him into top 50

Clay Gulliver. Photo/Stephen Parker

For almost 13 minutes Rotorua's Clay Gulliver breathed as hard as he could to race to the top of Auckland's Sky Tower.

In his first attempt at the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge the 26-year-old managed to break the top 50. He now has ambitions to next year get a top 10 spot.

Mr Gulliver, who is a volunteer with the Ngongotaha Volunteer Fire Brigade, reached the top on Saturday in 12 minutes and 54 seconds. He was wearing full firefighting kit, including 25kg breathing apparatus, and he was breathing through the unit.

The challenge was a fundraiser for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand.

"It was a great experience but she was hard work," Mr Gulliver said.

"I don't tend to run up stairs often but compared to anything I've done, it's one of the hardest things I've done. You train to go as hard as you can for as long as you need to. I'd not done it before but I've learned a few things for next year."

Mr Gulliver has previously competed in triathlon and represented New Zealand at the Age Group World Championships in sprint distance in 2008 and long distance in 2009. He is a bike mechanic at Cyclezone.

The winner of the challenge was Otara firefighter Josh Harrison, who won it in 8 minutes 36 seconds. There were more than 700 firefighters in the challenge, which this year celebrated its 10th anniversary.

The Ngongotaha Volunteer Fire Brigade team plus firefighters from Rotorua Fire Brigade and the Mamaku Volunteer Fire Brigade competed in the donned and started competition - breathing through the breathing apparatus. The Lake Okareka Rural Fire crew competed in the donned section, which meant they only wore the gear.

Results: Ngongotaha Volunteer Fire Brigade: Clay Gulliver 12:54, Aidan Reynolds 18:41, Paul Osborne 20:58, James Cooper 21:03, Francis Boag 26:29; Lake Okareka Rural Fire: Kierin Oppatt 11:43, Blair Gilbert 13:50, Philip Muldoon 14:49, Philip Rennie 19:04; Mamaku Volunteer Fire Brigade: Tom Steiner 25:39; Rotorua Fire Brigade: Doug Buchanan 18:37.