Life in the Larger Household: 2011 Firefighter Combat Challenge

Yesterday we traveled to Milford, OH for Jeff to compete in the 2011 Firefighter Combat Challenge. What a day! Charlie came over around 8 and we started the drive to Milford. Jeff had to be there at least 2 hours early to get registered for the event. The day started off with some uncertain weather. It rained for probably 2 hours when we first arrived. Eventually the rain tapered off and the challenge was underway.

At the beginning of the challenge they introduced all of the guys and what department they were representing. There were 78 competitors total, and they came from mostly Ohio, but there were some guys from Canada and even Alaska. The Milford Fire Department Color Guard presented the colors and the National Anthem was played. Then it was time to get down to business.

Only two people go through the challenge at a time. They try to set up the heats based on previous times, and the first timers get lumped into the beginning. Jeff was #7 so he went in the 4th heat. Let me back track a little bit and say that Jeff has been training for this challenge for awhile now with some guys at Washington Township where he works part time. His mentor, Jeff Fowler and one of the Lt.'s were going to compete as well. Fowler unfortunately had been sick for awhile and wasn't able to compete. Jeff was nervous to begin with, but when he found out Fowler wasn't competing I think he got even more nervous. However, Fowler showed up to cheer them on anyway.

Don, Kathy, Charlie and I lined up to watch the heats before Jeff. The first guy to go had me so nervous for Jeff I wasn't sure I was going to be able to watch. I felt terrible for him. He flew up and down the stairs and by the time he was to the sled you could tell he had exerted too much energy already. He struggled to pull the hose and then by the time he had to drag "rescue Randy" who weighs 175 pounds he got his arms underneath him and fell backwards. He got up and waved his hands that he was done, but the guys running the challenge told him to catch his breath and try again. What happened next in my opinion was amazing and is a testament to what a true brotherhood the fire service really is. The guy announcing the challenge kept telling the crowd this kid needed their help and the crowd erupted and just started cheering this kid on. Guys from different departments all over the state were there yelling and encouraging him. He fell once again but was able to get up on his feet and finish the race just barely under the 6 minute time limit.

Then we watched the second heat where a kid who had never competed before made the race look like a breeze and finished in just under 2 minutes.

By the time Jeff got up I was so nervous for him. On the drive over he told Charlie and I that his goal for himself was to finish in under 3 minutes. He accomplished his goal with a time of 2 minutes and 48 seconds. It was so neat to see him train so hard for this and to set a goal for himself and accomplish it.

I'm pretty sure he'll do the challenge again next year. Behind the challenge, they had a kids challenge set up which was basically a mini-version of the adult challenge. Jeff and I both looked at each other smiled and said "some day." I'm sure Elliott is going to want to compete in the kids challenge if Jeff continues competing in the years to come.

Here are a few pictures of the day: