The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
With a time of one minute and 51 seconds, a Flin Flon native is heading to the nationals of the Fire Fit Combat Challenge. While dressed in full gear, fire medic Ryan Chigol ran up six flights of stairs, pulled up a 45 lb. hose donut and ran back down the stairs at this year's regional challenge. "This isn't like some sports where you can have weaknesses," says the member of the Thompson Fire Department. "You have to be strong in every event." At the bottom of the stairs Chigol continued with the challenge with the Keiser machine. "It's a hydraulic machine where you have to use a rubber mallet to move the slide along," he says. According to the fire medic, the slide has to move at least 12 inches which "takes the average competitor 12 hits." Once competitors finished that, they had to run 175 feet through a zig zag pattern of hydrants, says Manitoba's 14th place finisher. "Then there is a charged hose waiting for you, "he says, "and you have to have it on your shoulder and run for 75 feet. And then you have to hit a target through a gate." After hitting the target, contestants moved onto the final leg of the race. "This was the dummy drag. You get a 175 lb. Rescue Randy and you have to run 100 feet with him to the finish line," says Chigol. With 10 feet left in the race, Chigol took a stumble and fell, knocking off about 20 seconds of time. "If I hadn't of fallen I probably would have finished with something like a minute and 31 seconds, for the regionals," he says Regionals this year, and last, took place in Moose Jaw Sask., where Chigol placed 14th. Chigol, along with 400 other competitors, are now training for the nationals, which will be held in Halifax from August 28-September 2. The challenge will be broadcast on TSN and Chigol says he grew up watching the guys on TV. "I knew once I saw this on TV I was going to be one of them some day. I knew once I was a firefighter I wanted to do this,"he says. Chigol says there were a couple things he has done in the past that have helped him prepare for the challenge. "I played hockey and fast ball here and high school sports,"he says. He has been training for this event "vigorously" since February. There isn't the same type of equipment in Thompson to practice with, he says, so he has to improvise. "I run up stairs, and run up and down hills, and I do weight training too," says the competitor. Since training for this challenge, Chigol has had to make some improvements to help him along the way. "I've had to work on my techniques and build more explosive leg power, and I've worked on my cardio, too," he says. And he includes, this "competition isn't just for men, I'd say there are probably about 20 or 25 women competing in the nationals. "This is something I would recommend anyone try. You do have to be either a firefighter or a fire medic to participate, but you can be volunteer also." "I would like to thank Kris Lee from Northern Services, and my brother for pushing me through the hard workouts. And of course my Mom and Dad."
