Chris Abbott
Two volunteer firefighters from the Norfolk County Fire Department went above and beyond the call of duty Sunday morning running 5 km in the CIBC Run for the Cure in Simcoe – in nearly full firefighting gear.
“I was at a nice even pace,” said firefighter Doug Rixmann from Simcoe’s Station 1, who has participated a number of times.
“It was great, I didn’t have to adjust my straps at all,” said Station 1 firefighter Marco Reyes, who has done the event before, but Sunday for the first time in full gear. “I just knew to listen to my body and walk when I had to. I’ll feel even better tonight.”
“The old guys,” Rixmann laughed, who shed most of his 40-50 pounds of firefighting gear soon after the run. “You do have to listen to your body – if your knee starts to hurt, you change a little bit. For our equipment, we did well.”
It was a workout - equipment included an air tank, helmet, three-layer bunker coat and pants, but they opted for running shoes instead of standard issue boots.
“The reason we’re doing this Run for the Cure… this is about 20-30 minutes of pain, and we have people in our station that have gone through chemo,” said Rixmann. “Thirty minutes is nothing compared to what these guys go through every week for months on end. So we come out to support them.”
Rixmann and Reyes said they hope to inspire younger firefighters in the hall.
“We’re calling out the younger guys to take over the reins,” Rixmann smiled.
“When you volunteer, everybody’s equal,” said Reyes. “Everybody’s on the same playing field.”
“In the end, people jump in when they need to, if they have to,” Rixmann nodded.
$2,500 raised through Norfolk Fire Department’s scrap metal bins in Simcoe, which are emptied by 30 firefighting volunteers 4-5 times per week, was donated to this year’s CIBC Run for the Cure, which supports those impacted by breast cancer.
“All of the money we get from it, we donate it all back to the community,” Reyes noted. “Because Norfolk County takes care of us… and we want to give our fundraising back.”
“We have supported lots of different things for cancer, and the Run for the Cure is one we have annually done from community donations to the scrap metal bins, and the 30 volunteers cleaning it up all the time,” said Rixmann. “100 per cent, it feels good to give back.”
“You’ll find that with all of our firefighters,” said Reyes. “Most of them sign up just to give back. Right away, the group welcomes you in and away you go. It’s a very community-minded group, they are all driven that way. Different personalities, but we all have the same sort of goals.”
Reyes said he slowed down to walk a couple times during Sunday’s run to chat with participants and he heard some interesting stories along the way.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, we’ve all been touched by it (cancer).”
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