Fit for anything

It’s billed as the toughest two minutes in sports and anyone who has watched a FireFit competition, let alone participated in one, can easily attest to that.
Picture yourself in full firefighter kit, in searing summer heat, running up steep ladders to a tower, pulling up heavy links of firehose hand over hand, and battering your way to grab a humanlike dummy to carry to safety, all at top speed without dropping your hammer, displacing your mask, or making other errors. 
This weekend, you can see it in action as the Conception Bay South Fire Department hosts the Regional FireFit Championships on the parking lot of Robert French Memorial Stadium in Kelligrews.
CBS Fire Chief John Heffernan said firefighters from across Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada and the United States are expected to attend and will compete in various categories including individual and relay races. 
“The event will showcase the fitness level of firefighters and the challenges they face daily,” said Heffernan. “This is the second time that we’ve done this. Luckily we had a very positive past experience when we ran it in 2017. It’s a big task to take on, but it’s certainly quite an exciting event to host and run as well.”
The event will run Saturday July 26 to Sunday July 27 and is open to the public. 
“On Friday, it’s a fun run for charity for Sammy’s Climb Higher Foundation and the CBS – Paradise Food Bank,” Heffernan added. “We’re going to split the proceeds of the fun event, which is a kind of corporate team building event for anybody to put a team in to get an opportunity to run a different stage of the competition to get a better appreciation of what the firefighters will go through.”
There will a Kids Zone on Saturday from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., with lots of fun activities for children including bouncy castles, a mini firefighters obstacle course and more. 
The races featuring the professionals, including members of the CBS Fire Department team, start daily at 10:00 a.m. and will run until roughly 4:00 p.m.