3 News sports presenter Michelle Pickles taking on the Sky Tower Challenge

  • Breaking
  • 09/05/2013

3 News sports presenter and reporter Michelle Pickles is taking on a challenge of a lifetime, to race up 1100 stairs while wearing a full fire fighters kit weighing up to 25kg in the Firefighters Sky Tower Challenge. She’s doing it for charity, to raise money and awareness for the Leukaemia & Blood Cancer Foundation. Follow her training as she prepares for the big day.

Just one more sleep until I climb the Sky Tower! In full firefighters kit. Hopefully it will be a good one – the sleep that is.

I had my last training session on Wednesday at the Vero Building with my wonderful training partner Hilary Barry. I can’t believe eight weeks of training has gone by so fast and here we are at the actual event.

I’ve told Hilary she has to do a recording with the words of encouragement she usually gives me in training so I can play it to myself on the way up.

The training has been incredibly hard but I read on the Leukaemia & Blood Cancer NZ website the other day a post from a survivor who spoke about seeing people climb the Sky Tower and how hard they are breathing at the end of it. He said it was just like the way they feel after all the awful treatment they have to endure. Very humbling and it reminded me yet again of what a great cause this is for.

I just hope I’m ready and don’t pass out half way up. One of those firemen might have to rescue me! Seriously though, I’m sure all that training will get me up those stairs on Saturday. Not sure how fast, and I don’t really care how long it takes, I just can’t wait to see that finish line!

I’ll let you all know how I get on with a blow by blow account of my Sky Tower Challenge.

Here is my fundraising page if you’d like to make a donation to my climb.

http://www.firefightersclimb.org.nz/view_event_profile/2359

3 News

source: newshub archive