Firefighting community gathers in Akron for Firefighter Challenge

Downtown Akron is bustling with firefighter athletes from all over the country for the Northeast Regional Firefighter Challenge Classic.

The morning of July 23, the challenge began for individual participants on South Main Street. When it was their turn, competitors donned their firefighter gear and stood at the base of a 41-foot stair tower. When the whistle blew, they were off.

The Firefighter Challenge, which ESPN coined "the toughest two minutes in sports," is a five-stage course that reflects similar training elements to the ones fire departments and fire colleges use "to prepare their personnel to perform their job at the highest level," according to the website.

The goal is to complete the stages in the fastest time, but it's about much more than that for many of the people competing this year.

"It's a good way to show how firefighters train and what we're capable of doing when people need us," said Hunter Brancifort from the Akron Fire Department.

For Justin Ward, another Akron firefighter, the competition brings together a community that is "unrivaled."

This year marks the return of the Northeast Regional Firefighter Challenge Classic to Akron fir the first time in almost 20 years. The challenge continues through Saturday, July 25 in front of 7 17 Credit Union Park.

Race results are posted online in real time.

What is the Firefighter Challenge?

For over 30 years, more than 70,000 firefighters of all backgrounds and fitness levels have participated in the Firefighter Challenge, according to the Firefighter Challenge League's website.

There are six competition categories, including individual and team options.

This year, 15 AFD firefighters are doing solo runs, and there are more doing tandem and team runs, said Ward, 43, who has been a firefighter for 12 years.

The challenge's course takes place in what is known as the LION Arena of the Brave.

To train for the challenge, Goodyear let Akron firefighters use its exterior fire escape, Ward said.

"It's brutal. It really is," said Ward, who competed for the second time this year. "Everyone, even the best of the best, there's these nerves that you get before this. All of us know, you're not going to die, obviously, but it feels like, maybe, because it's so painful when you're completing the course. It's such a brutal physical exercise."

Stages of the challenge

The Firefighter Challenge has five stages. Here's a breakdown, according to the Firefighter Challenge's website:

1. WHP Stair Tower Climb with Snap-Tite High-Rise Pack: Climb up a 41-foot, five-story training tower, consisting of 63 steps, while carrying a 42-pound hose pack.
2. Snap-Tite Hose Hoist: Hand-over-hand hoist a 42-pound donut roll from the ground up to the top of the tower until the roll of hose clears the top railing and is placed on the top platform floor.
3. Keiser Forcible Entry: Simulate a chopping motion using a 9.6-pound dead blow hammer to force the 160-pound force machine's steel beam five feet.
4. Snap-Tite and TFT Hose Advance: Negotiate a 140-foot slalom course without missing or knocking over any delineator. Pick up the nozzle end of the hose line and drag it 75 feet until it reaches the swinging doors. Use the nozzle's pressure stream to hit a target.
5. NASCO Healthcare Victim Rescue: Drag a 165-pound mannequin backwards for 106 feet. Cross the finish line.

What is it like to compete in the Firefighter Challenge?

Ward said the course, as well as the use of firefighter gear and a self-contained breathing apparatus, feels similar to the experience of a typical house fire.

The course is hard right away, he said.

"Everything gets harder when you're breathing through, basically, a tube," Ward said. "You're just focused on putting one foot in front of the other."

Ward finished the course in 2 minutes and 39 seconds.

Nathaniel Kean from the Dearborn Heights Fire Department in Michigan traveled to Akron with his wife and child to compete.

"It's heart beating from before you even start because you're so anxious," said Kean, who has been a firefighter since 2014. "When you're going, you're just trying not to stop."

He said the rescue stage at the very end is the hardest part.

"You're drained, physically, mentally, and now you've got to do this 106-foot drag."

Kean finished in 2 minutes and 19 seconds.

Bill Christiansen from Lansing Fire Department in Michigan competed in the age 70 to 79 category.

He said after doing it for so long, he's gotten used to the fatigue competitors get on the race.

"You just learn to work through it," he said.

Christiansen finished the course in 5 minutes and 47 seconds.

Brancifort, who finished the course in 3 minutes and 4 seconds, said after being a firefighter for about a year and a half, his colleagues in the Akron Fire Department have proven to be very supportive.

"We all have each other's back," she said. "You can always count on them."

There are five challenge regions in the U.S. Selected regional athletes participate in the U.S. National Championship in September, and any firefighter who meets general eligibility requirement can compete in the World Championship in October.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Firefighting community gathers in Akron for Firefighter Challenge