Pulling a 22-tonne fire truck down Fenton St was the culmination of eight weeks of hard slog, sweat and tears for 21 Rotorua Lakes High School students.
The students, from years 10 to 13, were completing their Longest Day challenge to mark the end of the Cactus programme, run in conjunction with the Rotorua police.
Nine hours of gruelling physical and mental challenges lay ahead when they began at 6am on a beautiful Saturday morning.
![Te Kura Karakia (left) helps pull the fire truck with deputy head boy Tamaho Stiles. Photo / Haana Howard](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/EYFBYSPLYG5TOVYNIM5TQKS66M.jpg?auth=e273c89bcde3e481835d2ee385df7da971a3c718e04fa3ea77db4f558803cf73&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
Every one of the students completed the day and reached their ultimate goal of graduating that evening.