Local ‘fire dawgs’ compete in ‘toughest two minutes in sports’ Published June 22, 2009 By Staff Sgt. Brian Burmieister 21st Civil Engineer Squadron PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- When the thought of the toughest two minutes in sports come to mind, many people's first consideration is not the Scott Firefighter Challenge. In reality, professional athletes from all over the world, who have put themselves to the test, agree: the Scott Firefighter Challenge is in fact, "The Toughest Two Minutes in Sports." The Scott firefighter combat challenge is a punishing activity invented to simulate real-life fire ground operations. The challenge begins with competitors carrying a 42-pound "hotel pack" of hose on their shoulders up a five-story tower and placing it in a metal box. The fireman then hoists another 42 pound roll of hose up the five stories and places it in the same metal box as the hotel pack before descending , touching every stair on the way down. When the fireman reaches the bottom of the tower, their next challenge is to simulate ventilating a roof by hitting a 190- pound piece of metal five feet, with a five-pound plastic sledge hammer. After this, the contestant runs through a 140-foot slalom course to grab a 1.75-inch fire hose, charged with water, and pull it 75 feet. Last but not least, the fireman then picks up a 175- pound rescue dummy and pulls it backward 100 feet to simulate removing a victim from a dangerous situation. The maximum time allowed to complete the course is six minutes. The world record for an individual completing the course is 1:19.02, set in 2001. The wide gap between the maximum and the record time is the definition of physical fitness. There are four variations in which to compete: The Individual/team, tandem, relay, in which one contestant completes the entire course from start to finish; The team portion in which the fastest three individual timed runs are added together; the tandem, which is simply two members running one-half of the course each; and the relay where each member performs one evolution of the course from start to finish for the fastest time. How does this all tie in to Year of Leadership and fitness? When professional athletes from all over the world find it exhausting to complete these events in two minutes, it defines the difficulty and requirement of physical fitness. "Legs and Lungs" is a quote I have heard at the most recent competition. From the YoL side, you will hear positive reinforcement from everyone at the competition, technique demonstrations from the veterans, and a smile when you cross that finish line from all the people who have ever participated themselves. Sounds like an outstanding way to promote this month's YoL topic of physical fitness, if you ask me. (Editor's note: Firefighters from the Peterson fire department competed in the Scott FireFighter Combat Challenge, held June 16 in Tucson, with two placing in the top 10.)