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Local Jeffersonville Fire Fighter to compete in fireman/police world games


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http://newsandtribune.com/x890678593/Fired-up-Jeffersonville-firefighters-to-compete-in-World-Police-and-Fire-Games

 

August 25, 2011

Fired up: Jeffersonville firefighters to compete in World Police and Fire Games

BY MICHAEL RESCHKE

michael.reschke@newsandtribune.com

 

JEFFERSONVILLE ? On a recent afternoon, Jason Wiesenauer got out the little green stand he uses for his racing bike. He hooked the back wheel up to the stand and put the front wheel on a wooden block. He turned on a couple fans, hopped on the bike, put his head down and started training, all the while knowing at any moment he could have to rush out to a burning building and risk his own life to save someone else?s.

 

This is what training is like for Wiesenauer and Josh Stith, two Jeffersonville firefighters planning to compete in the 2011 World Police and Fire Games in New York City this weekend.

 

The games, held every two years, are the second largest multisport event in the world, behind only the Summer Olympics, according to the website 2011wpfg.org. More than 15,000 law enforcement officers and firefighters from around the world will compete in 65 sporting events. This year, two of those competitors will be from the Jeffersonville Fire Department.

 

Wiesenauer will be competing in the Olympic distance triathlon, which consists of a one-mile swim, 24-mile bike ride and a six-mile run, in that order. Stith, who has fought professionally in several mixed martial arts competitions, will be competing in the 167-pound weight class in both freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling.

 

Both competitors have had to balance training with the physical demands of their profession. In some ways, their training has made their jobs easier. Wiesenauer said the biking, swimming and running he has been doing has helped bring his heart rate down, allowing him to use less oxygen and stay in a burning building longer than he would have been able to before. At the same time, though, he has lost about 15 pounds this summer, making carrying the weight of his gear a little harder. Despite this, Wiesenauer said his training hasn?t hindered his performance on the job.

 

?I have never felt if I was caught during a workout that I would bring any less than 100 percent,? Wiesenauer said. ?This job is priority number one.?

 

Wiesenauer said because he could be called out at any moment, the training he does at work is more of maintenance work and he saves the more intense training for his off days. Stith does the same, and it?s a good thing.

 

?It never fails,? Stith said. ?I?ll run five miles and the buzzer will go off.?

 

Stith and Wiesenauer both said the other firefighters at their stations have been supportive and done what they can to make sure their training doesn?t interfere with their responsibilities. Stith is at Station 4, which is closer to Charlestown and less busy than other stations, like Station 1, where Wiesenauer is stationed in downtown Jeffersonville.

 

Wiesenauer and another sergeant usually alternate driving the ladder and engine trucks. The engine truck is called out more often than the ladder truck, which is used mostly for structure fires on high-rise buildings. For this month, though, Wiesenauer is only driving the ladder truck so he has fewer interruptions in his training schedule in the final weeks leading up to the games. The little things the other guys at the stations have done to help the two prepare mean just as much as the big things, though.

 

The other day, after Wiesenauer had set up his bike and begun his workout, the battery in his iPod died. Another firefighter noticed and pulled up Rhapsody on his phone and gave it to Wiesenauer.

 

?That meant a lot to me,? Wiesenauer said.

 

Not only have their fellow firefighters given them their support, they are also the reason Wiesenauer and Stith decided to participate in the games. Aware of Stith?s wrestling background and mixed martial arts fighting, Capt. Rick VanGilder talked to him about the games. Stith said he looked into it and when he saw that it was in New York City to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, he knew he had to go.

 

?I thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,? Stith said.

 

Word about the games spread to Wiesenauer and it wasn?t long before the two were figuring out the logistics of how to make it to the games. They decided they needed at least $2,000 for travel, a hotel room and entry fees, among other things. Stith said he didn?t want to ask anyone for money.

 

?We chose to do this,? Stith said. ?It?s not like someone got sick.?

 

A lot of people liked the idea of helping the two firefighters out, though, especially the Fraternal Order of Police. They donated $1,000 to help get the pair to New York City.

 

Next week, all the hours Stith spent running and sweating in one of the most sweltering summer heat waves in years will help him grapple with competitors from all over the world. All the time Wiesenauer spent pedaling in the back of the firehouse and all the times he chose to eat spinach pizza instead of the meals the guys at his station made with sticks of butter and inch-and-a half thick steaks from Olde Towne Grocery have helped prepare his body for a race against triathletes who have posted professional times.

 

In addition to all the training and all the sacrifice these two have made, there will be another element to the competition that will help push them further than any diet or exercise. Wiesenauer felt it last year when he ran in the Lights and Sirens 5K. He said two ladder trucks were set up with an American flag draped down.

 

?That was the fastest 5K I?ve ran in my life,? Wiesenauer said. ?I was so proud.?

 

When Wiesenauer and Stith get to New York City, where 10 years ago firefighters and law enforcement officers like them gave their lives trying to save others, that sense of pride will be bubbling up out of them as they represent Jeffersonville and the United States.

 

?It?s one more reason not to quit running,? Wiesenauer said.

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