Quinte West Combat Challenge!
Hello Internet,
This past Saturday in the beautiful town of Quinte west me and my team of Fleming Pre-Service Firefighters competed in the Firefit Combat Challenge. The day started off with opening ceremonies of Jets flying overhead and skydivers/parachute guys bring in a Canadian flag, courtesy of CFB Trenton. Then we got underway. I was slated to go #61 competitor in the programs and number 1 in the fans hearts. I raced against a firefighter from Whitewater Beachburg, which is near Pembroke area. It was his second competition. In practice my Personal Best time was 2:41 which I was hoping to get. Basically anything under three minutes would qualify for the Canadian Nationals in Niagara Falls.
The course started with a "ready, go!" no time for a set command I guess. I took off very slowly up the stairs with a hose pack on my shoulder, trying to conserve my energy. I got to the top of the 5 storey tower and slammed the hose bundle into the basket. Then I reached over the side of the rail and started hoisting up the hose roll on the rope. Hand over hand, but I screwed it up because the rope was getting infront of me instead of behind me. Anyways I got the hose roll up, slammed it into the basket and took off down the stairs in a hurry making sure to hit every step on the way down to avoid a 2 sec penalty. I got the bottom and then was directed by the referee on course to hit the forcible entry machine (basically moving a weight with a sledge hammer, under neath, between my legs). Ten hits later (or so?) I moved the target weight far enough and the ref told me to go run through the obstacle course and grab the charged (that means it has water in it for any non-firefighters out there) hose line. And also by "run through the obstacle course" I mean jog slowly through, because I was feeling pretty gased at this point and really sucking the air out of my Scott NXG2 airpack. I got to the hose, heaved it up on my shoulder and pulled to the target. I wasn't used to opening up the nozzle and hitting the target, so I lost some seconds there. But I hit the target, closed the bale and dropped the hose. Now was the last/hardest part of the course, the dummy drag. The dummy weighs 175lbs, and I am wearing about 75 lbs. of gear already and I have also done 7 other events before getting to old rescue randy (as they call him), so I was pretty wiped but still had a good lead on my competitor. But I was racing the clock not him, so with a good hold on the ole' dummy I heaved him up with arms wrapped around his midsection and then bam! I started to run backwards with him. And of course by run I mean jog backwards slowly. I got about half way towards the finish line with the ref saying I was almost there and to keep going. I checked the clock that I could see up at the tower. Oh baby I was ahead of my time and on course for a PB. Then I got pulling back a bit much and my legs, which were pretty dead at the time, didn't want to stay under my body and falling back asswards I went. Damn! I got up, breathing and panting pretty hard, almost in heart attack range, and propped up rescue randy for another grab and drag. I got him up and started to walk backwards again, about 2 secs later, which felt like 2 hours, I crossed the finished line and had people there helping to rip off my breathing apparatus and jacket, etc. Then off to the recovery tent for some slow sips of water and many ice cold towels placed on my head and wrists and neck. I heard the annoucer say my time was...Wait for it...."2:47!" Well it wasn't a PB and it didn't win the event (I think the guy who won got about 1:20 or something) but it was good enough to qualify for the Canadian Nationals! Niagara falls here I come and hell's coming with me.
That night I got drunk and watched the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Pretty good day really.
This past Saturday in the beautiful town of Quinte west me and my team of Fleming Pre-Service Firefighters competed in the Firefit Combat Challenge. The day started off with opening ceremonies of Jets flying overhead and skydivers/parachute guys bring in a Canadian flag, courtesy of CFB Trenton. Then we got underway. I was slated to go #61 competitor in the programs and number 1 in the fans hearts. I raced against a firefighter from Whitewater Beachburg, which is near Pembroke area. It was his second competition. In practice my Personal Best time was 2:41 which I was hoping to get. Basically anything under three minutes would qualify for the Canadian Nationals in Niagara Falls.
The course started with a "ready, go!" no time for a set command I guess. I took off very slowly up the stairs with a hose pack on my shoulder, trying to conserve my energy. I got to the top of the 5 storey tower and slammed the hose bundle into the basket. Then I reached over the side of the rail and started hoisting up the hose roll on the rope. Hand over hand, but I screwed it up because the rope was getting infront of me instead of behind me. Anyways I got the hose roll up, slammed it into the basket and took off down the stairs in a hurry making sure to hit every step on the way down to avoid a 2 sec penalty. I got the bottom and then was directed by the referee on course to hit the forcible entry machine (basically moving a weight with a sledge hammer, under neath, between my legs). Ten hits later (or so?) I moved the target weight far enough and the ref told me to go run through the obstacle course and grab the charged (that means it has water in it for any non-firefighters out there) hose line. And also by "run through the obstacle course" I mean jog slowly through, because I was feeling pretty gased at this point and really sucking the air out of my Scott NXG2 airpack. I got to the hose, heaved it up on my shoulder and pulled to the target. I wasn't used to opening up the nozzle and hitting the target, so I lost some seconds there. But I hit the target, closed the bale and dropped the hose. Now was the last/hardest part of the course, the dummy drag. The dummy weighs 175lbs, and I am wearing about 75 lbs. of gear already and I have also done 7 other events before getting to old rescue randy (as they call him), so I was pretty wiped but still had a good lead on my competitor. But I was racing the clock not him, so with a good hold on the ole' dummy I heaved him up with arms wrapped around his midsection and then bam! I started to run backwards with him. And of course by run I mean jog backwards slowly. I got about half way towards the finish line with the ref saying I was almost there and to keep going. I checked the clock that I could see up at the tower. Oh baby I was ahead of my time and on course for a PB. Then I got pulling back a bit much and my legs, which were pretty dead at the time, didn't want to stay under my body and falling back asswards I went. Damn! I got up, breathing and panting pretty hard, almost in heart attack range, and propped up rescue randy for another grab and drag. I got him up and started to walk backwards again, about 2 secs later, which felt like 2 hours, I crossed the finished line and had people there helping to rip off my breathing apparatus and jacket, etc. Then off to the recovery tent for some slow sips of water and many ice cold towels placed on my head and wrists and neck. I heard the annoucer say my time was...Wait for it...."2:47!" Well it wasn't a PB and it didn't win the event (I think the guy who won got about 1:20 or something) but it was good enough to qualify for the Canadian Nationals! Niagara falls here I come and hell's coming with me.
That night I got drunk and watched the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Pretty good day really.
posted by firefighterwannabe at 8:26 AM
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