The Best of the Bravest will Compete for High Honors at the Challenge
Gainesville, FL, August 15 , 2006 - The 3rd Annual Firefighter Combat Challenge Southeast Regional is coming to Gainesville, FL on August 26-27. The competition will take place in The Oaks Mall parking lot on Newberry Road. The SE Regional Championships start on Saturday 26th at 4:00p.m. and SE Regional Relay and Tandem Championships start on Sunday 27th at 12 noon. This event is hosted by the Gainesville Sports Organizing Committee (GSOC).
The Firefighter Combat Challenge is an intense, vigorous competition and seeks to encourage firefighter fitness and to provide the public with greater appreciation of the physical demands of the profession. The Challenge is not solely for entertainment; it is about performing one of the most dangerous and demanding jobs safer and better.
During the competition, firefighters will simulate the physical demands of real life firefighting by competing on a linked series of five tasks. Wearing "full bunker gear" and a Scott breathing apparatus (SCBA), the competitors will climb to the top of a five-story hydraulic tower carrying a 42-pound high-rise pack. When they reach the top of the tower, they must hoist a 42lb hose roll to the top; then descend to the ground floor where they simulate chopping by swinging a 9-pound shot mallet on the end of a 160 pound steel beam. The firefighters then must go 140 feet through simulation hydrants to the fourth station, where they advance an attack hose a distance of 75 feet; and finally drag a life sized, 175 lb. "victim" a distance of 100 feet to cross the finish line.
Each member of a three-to-five-person team performs the standard evolutions against the clock, with the top three individual times added together to yield a team total. Qualifiers of this regional event will advance to the World Championships held each year. Come out and support your communities' local fire departments.
For more information about the 3rd Annual Firefighter Combat Challenge Southeast Regional in Gainesville please contact Gainesville Sports Organizing Committee (GSOC) @ 352-338-9300 or log on to: www.firefighterchallenge.com/
The Gainesville Sports Organizing Committee, Inc. (GSOC), founded in 1988, is a not-for-profit organization that strives to promote tourism through sports while creating a positive economic impact on Gainesville and Alachua County. The GSOC now helps to create an annual economic impact of about $10 million for our local economy. Since its inception, more than $130 million has been generated in direct economic activity from participants and spectators to GSOC hosted and assisted events. For more info information on GSOC, visit www.gsoc.com or call (352) 338-9300.
