When Fire Chief Mike Connelly took office January 1st, he already had several pages of items he wanted to address. One of those was Firefighter Fitness. Fast-forward a few months… One evening after dinner at the Fire Station, Captain Eric Jamison and his crew where discussing the Chief’s Firefighter Fitness Initiative. Jamison and Private John Chapman supported the Initiative but wanted to do more and even set an example for the other 270 plus members of the Department.
Jamison and Chapman developed a plan and then enlisted the help of Privates Scott Weber and Shawn Wiethop (wee-top). The 4 of them are going to participate in the Community Health Network Marathon Relay in Indianapolis on October 20th. They even paid the $140 entry fee out of their own pockets.
This is an open class race which means there are no age groups and everyone races at the same time and for the same awards. The race starts at 7:30 AM. Weber will lead off the relay with a 5.0 mile leg, followed by Chapman with a 7.5 mile leg, Jamison with a 6.55 mile leg and then Wiethop will anchor with a 7.15 mile leg.
What’s also amazing about this fearless foursome is they all are department veterans with a minimum of 10 years and ALL of them are over 40 years old. Not exactly spring chickens. Now, not to count your chickens before they’ve hatched (pun intended), but the team has worked hard and their time is very competitive. The team is determined to bring home a medal and hopefully it will be GOLD.
