Frolicking seals and hot roasts. Not many people would think of these two things at the same time, but for some Te Puke firefighters they're a highlight of what's been a memorable run around the country.

A group of eight firemen including five from Te Puke, one from Kawerau, one from Southbridge near Ashburton – the only out-of-towner – and one from Taupo, took on the epic relay run from the Bluff to Auckland's big landmark in the 12 days leading up to the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge on tomorrow, May 23.

Firefighters running: Matt Cooke, Mornay Jacobs and Andrew ‘Hotcake' Bestick. Photo by Bruce Barnard.

Dubbed South2Sky, the firefighters covered 1807km, starting from Bluff on May 9 and running relay-style – shaking buckets and raising awareness of the Leukaemia & Blood Cancer Foundation in between – through every town on their way to reaching Auckland today.

And they've still got hone their energy to scale the Sky Tower's 1103 steps and 51 floors donned in 25kg of heavy kit tomorrow raise more funds for LBCNZ.

Firefighter Matt Cooke says they've managed to raise more than $30,000 with the relay.

'The run has been good. Wednesday morning was our first cold day. It was the first day I've had to use my skin top.

'The hardest parts have been the early morning starts – 5am starts. It's a fantastic time of the day to be running. We've been really lucky with the weather too. We have only had one day where we thought we'd get a bit of a shower.”

Matt says the ferry crossing in Wellington was a bit 'dodge” in not so favourable conditions.

'Some of the guys were feeling a bit sick. It was really nice to get to Petone and kick back.”

Matt says one of the most memorable moments was seeing seals frolic in Kaikoura and having a roast meal with the Pahiatua Fire Brigade.

'They raised about $820 with a wheelbarrow raffle and they event put on a roast the night the boys were in town.

'They just needed that. It really boosted team moral. They [Pahiatua] have a real heart of gold and real community spirit.”

People can still donate to the Bay firefighters' Sky Tower challenge tomorrow, see http://south2sky.co.nz