FireFit 2009 P.A.

My little guy always loved to play with water and get dirty.

Mark, age 4.

See this cute little guy?

I am one Mom that never expected to see a son of mine compete in this Firefit competition and I have to tell you, as I watched him preparing for this, my heart was beating awfully fast. I tried to talk him out of it. Silly to even try of course but the mother in me was terribly worried about my little boy subjecting himself to such a grueling challenge. Always a mother. And was that a cough I was hearing?

But here he is 20 years later being the man the Lord meant him to be and I am so proud of him.

Mark getting ready for the team relay event.

Part of the relay - no masks for the relay. Still grueling!

Mark's turn is up for the solo competition - the whole course, by yourself, racing the clock and one other guy beside you. The sun is out and it is getting warm out here. He is off up the stairs to the top of a five story building.

8.2 sec - half way there.

Mark is climbing six flights of stairs in full gear with an oxygen tank on his back and breathing through a mask which reduces O2 by 15 %. On his back is 42 pounds of fire hose. No runners - big heavy firefighter boots and fire fighter gloves which makes the task even harder. I am one nervous spectator.

Mark is pulling 45 pounds of hose up the side of this five story building. Then he races down to the bottom and on to the next task...

Using a 9 pound mallet to move a 165 pound beam

The clock is at just over a minute....

Off to the other end of the course through the obstacles to grab the fully charged fire hose. I think the guys just want to lie down and give up at this point... but there is more to do. Still under two minutes.

Dragging a fully charged hose 75 feet and then hitting a target with the water.

This is the last and final leg of the competition - dragging 175 pounds of dead weight 100 ft across the finish line.

I feel his pain. Mark is so, so close to meeting his goal - just to finish the course - so many cannot get through it at all.

"Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small,large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and goodsense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." Winston Churchill ~a quote Mark has on his facebook page.

Mark at the finish line being tended to by the crew.

The recovery and first aid tent.

Some of these guys looked pretty bad. I had to go there and make sure he was okay... and take a few pictures too.

This is the crew getting those O2 masks off ASAP

and when it was all over and he had recovered I got this shot...

Here he is with his buddies 21 years later. Still playing with water. They grow up way too fast.

The Thompson Manitoba Fire Fighters FIREFIT team! Mark is on the far right. Mark did exceptionally well and I am one proud Mama. Okay I have to admit there were a few moments when I was so worried I felt physically sick... but now I just feel pride.

If you get a chance to see the Scott Firefit champions in real life - go for it - very impressive.

These are the guys who stay in shape so they can risk their lives to save ours.

Scott Firefit Championships

What a busy week!

Forty hrs at work, two bedrooms painted, new blinds installed, the entire upstairs carpet cleaned, and the garden weeded and lawn cut . I put in some long days (my sweetheart was a huge help)and slept very well last night but hey it all sure looks great. Sammy (and David)installed new light fixtures in all the bedrooms last weekend, including our new mini chandelier - which I will share pictures of soon. oh it is soooo romantic!

The fun continues and this morning David and I are almost out the door soon (7am) to grab a tims and head off to Prince Albert to watch Mark compete in the Scott Firefit championship.

A competition of firefighting skills for the super fit!

I will take lots of pictures!

....because there will be a whole bunch of very fit firefighters doing their stuff.

... and my new Olympus E30 is really up to the fast action challenge.

FIRE!

Some of Mark's Pictures from fire fighting school...

Back Yard BBQ

We had nine single, good looking, very nice young men in the back yard last night. And five of them are firefighters. I mean really good looking! The only single gal was our daughter who is firmly attached to her young man. Talk about missed opportunity - didn't even occur to me untill they were all here, but Allison really should have invited a few of her girlfriends over. (aren't I mischievous).
But we had a good time, the weather was perfect and the Coop 6 oz burgers were a hit. Here are some pictures. Summer in Saskatchewan - isn't it great? But hey I think we deserve it with our winters.

sorry..this one is taken! LOL He is mine!

Notice that fabulous green lawn? hehe

Have a wonderful day. Spend some of it outdoors today and enjoy that warm sun (wear sun screen and bug repellant)

Proud Mama

Yup, that's my Mark on the front page of the Brandon Sun. The caption reads....



Student Mark Cortens with the Maniitoba Emergency Services College wipes the rear window of a car during the MESC fundraising car wash at the Corral Center on Saturday. MESC students washed cars and held a barbecue to raise money for the fire college grad fund and the Manitoba Burn Fund.

My son the Firefighter

With Saskatoon Fire Chief Brian Bentley

Presenting the Manitoba Burn Fund with a donation from the collage.

XTREME courage

A page about my son who likes XTREME career joices - unlike his mother and father who prefer to make money sitting at a desk!!

Mark took this picture at firefighting school - he is a good photographer ( I wonder where he gets it from hehe) I used the new Bo Bunny paper that just came in called Xtreme Teen, some vellum, lots of ink and some K and Co firefighting stickers that Ralna brought in for me along with a firefighting album...so expect a shift from military to firefighting in my layouts for Mark.

Journalling reads... You always loved electronics growing up and were the first to take something apart and then get it back together…so naturally I had you pegged as an Electrical Engineer. It was so you, or so I thought until you came home from University at the end of your first year of Engineering and announced that this was NOT for you and you could never sit at a desk for the rest of your life.
You promptly joined the Reserves full time, took off for Kingston, jumped out of airplanes and then were off on the DART team doing duty over in Pakistan. I found a few more grey hairs – but surmised that you would soon get this all out of your system and settle down to a normal career at a desk just like your Dad and most other people we know – like your younger brother!
You talked of heading out on a six month tour of Afghanistan – which brought great fear and concern to your parents…and then one day you came home and decided you wanted to be a Fireman. Now many mothers would think this worrisome – but compared to Afghanistan it was a great idea! So here you are about to graduate from Firefighting School, you are now officially a First Responder and you are talking about maybe joining SAR – yes fire fighting and first responder stuff just not quite xtreme enough – you would now like to dangle from a helicopter in the middle of a raging ocean storm, or rescue a snowboarder hanging to a cliff because he went out of bounds.
I do believe I am starting to get accustomed to the idea of a son in a dangerous xtreme profession – because that’s where your servants heart is.. I am proud of all you have accomplished so far. And come to think of it, I spent more time in the Emergency Room getting stitches for you then all the other kids put together. So I really shouldn’t be surprised. I love you!

Blessings!

Julie