Three Okotoks firefighters made their mark at the FireFit Championships earlier this year.
The FireFit Championships are a series of physical challenges undertaken by firefighters, all donning their turnout gear.
It's been going on annually for over 25 years, with competitors from every province and territory in Canada, as well as the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, Germany, England, and the Middle East, according to the event's website.
Back in June, six members of Okotoks Fire & Rescue compete in the Southern Alberta Regional FireFit Championship at Spruce Meadows,
Captain Ryan Chigol led the charge among his fellow Okotoks firefighters, having competed in several FireFit championships dating back to 2006 before his move to Okotoks.
The national and world championships were held in Kamloops, BC, from September 25-29, with three making the journey to compete in BC.
Lisa Barton, John Dillabough, and Tim Houghton repped Okotoks and each beat their personal best in the individual event.
Barton placed 9th overall in Canada in the Women's division and posted the top Women's Rookie time (02:24:52).
The Individual involves six events run back to back, being the Stair Climb, Hose Hoist, Forcible Entry, Run, Hose Advance, and Victim Rescue.
Barton and Dillabough also competed in Tech2, which is a two-person race involving nine tasks.
They placed 15th in the Mixed category on Friday with a time of 02:23 and finished 13th two days later at 01:59.
Barton and Houghton are strangers to these kinds of challenges, having competed in the Firefighter Stairclimb Challenge the week before taking part in June's FireFit regionals.
For Barton, training for FireFit was unlike any other challenge she's tackled.
"It's completely different than just going to the gym and lifting weights or doing cardio on the side. The movements are completely different, especially in gear and with a pack. We do supplement it with training in the gym and doing different sorts of workout, but it's pretty hard to get yourself in FireFit shape without actually practicing those movements."
She recalls working on her technique for the Victim Rescue event, which involves dragging a Rescue Randy Manikin to safety.
"This is definitely the hardest physical challenge I've done. Learning how to pick up Randy was definitely challenging. There were times when I was on shift and for a workout I would just go down and practice picking Randy up because at first I didn't have the technique I needed."
With that said, Barton had a blast.
"You see people you haven't seen in years and used to work with, you make new friends and contacts, everybody's just there and cheering each other on. It's a really great environment whether you've been doing it for 15 years or if it's your first year. It's really awesome."
Chigol, who introduced the challenge to his Okotoks teammates, was thrilled to see how they fared in Kamloops.
"I was really pleased with their showing. I know how much hard work, training, and discipline go into what you need to do in order to compete. Obviously, it's all about comradery. Yes, you win a trophy and everything, but you're really racing against yourself and trying to better your own time. You do race against another individual, which does push you, but in the end, it's more about getting out and meeting other people, getting your department's name out there. But with their results, they all got personal bests, and they've all got the bug, and this is going to continue on hopefully for years to come."
He's hoping to see a regional challenge hosted in Okotoks in the next few years and is actively looking into the possibility.