The 2016 Can-Am Police-Fire Games started with a literal bang Monday morning.
Runners took to the paved Boulevard Lake road for the first competition of the week – a five kilometer race.
Local firefighter John Balabuck came out on top crossing the line in under 17 minutes, but his celebration was cut short as he had to make his way across town to the Thunder Bay Fire Training Center for the toughest firefighter alive competition.
“(The firefighter competition) was way harder than I thought it would be actually,” Balabuck said later Monday afternoon after competing in the toughest firefighter alive race. “I wasn’t prepared for how hard it actually is.”
The competition consisted of a series of firefighter tasks done in four timed rounds.
The firefighters were required to participate in a hose, obstacle, climbing and weight-carrying event. These tasks involved contestants moving a Kaiser Forcible Enter Machine with a sledgehammer, scale an eight-foot wall and carry a 165 pound rescue dummy.
Balabuck said the hardest part of the challenges was climbing the stairs, which he was required to do four times and carrying the manikin a total distance of 100 metres.
“I truthfully didn’t train for this, so I’m trying to figure this out as we go,” Balabuck said.
“There’s some guys here that have done a lot of homework and so they have been really helpful with what to do.”
Balabuck added that Tuesday will be an easy competition day with only one run at night. The rest of the week he will have to try and finish strong as he is competing in five to six events a day.
Thunder Bay competitor Jocelyn Pearson showed off her strength during the bench press and power lifting competitions Monday morning.“I squatted 275 this morning, which is a personal record,” Pearson said. “I set some personal goals and so far I am actually achieving them, so I’m really excited about that.”
She said the process leading up to the event was the part she enjoyed the most.
“I was really strict with my training,” she said. “My trainer, also known as my husband, was instrumental in helping me through this process and I found that it was just a lot of fun.”
Pearson’s training involved squatting, bench pressing, deadlifting and running.
She added that being patient with her training was important for her, she wanted to avoid any injuries, so far Pearson said it’s been a success.
The competition began with the powerlifting event, with the bench press event following.
The Can-Am Police-Fire Games continue Tuesday starting at 8:30 a.m. with the golfing competition at Whitewater Golf Course.
