An Alaskan Adventure

Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge event #419, Downtown Anchorage

Alaska’s license plate advertises “Last Frontier” and that attraction brought Beau Gunter and Jackie Palmer to our second appearance in this fine State. On the 4th of July, the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge was squeezed into the space between the curbs on “H” Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues.

The overcast day threatened some rain, but resigned itself to a slightly annoying drizzle. But the packed crowd never minded. We kicked off the 3 hours of competition right after the parade finished up.

Beau Gunter, Dr. Paul and Jackie Palmer in Anchorage for the 4th of July

The Kid’s event was a huge success; set up across the street on Delaney Park, hundreds of kids lined up to participate.

At the Challenge, I would be remiss if I did not mention a couple of interesting statistics; Jackie Palmer held the first place position for most of the competition. She’s our #1 female competitor and for the first time, a woman finished in the Top 10.

Beau is the #1 Male so far this year. You can view his run on Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/132677061

While we had only 18 Open Class competitors, mostly from the Anchorage FD, there were 11 Relay teams that made things interesting.

We got some great coverage from local TV stations. An extended feature can be seen at this link:
http://www.ktva.com/firefighter-combat-challenge-comes-to-anchorage-951/

An additonal treat: Dr. Rainer Martin, the founder of HK Publishers, the largest health/fitness publisher in the world and publisher of Hard Work, the textbook authored by Drs Sharkey and Davis was in town. He’s an outstanding photographer, having traveled the world since his retirement not long ago. You can check out his Blog at http://www.travelpod.com/z/rainermartens/5/1436084592?utm_campaign=share_notification&utm_source=dashboard&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share_button 

Dr. Rainer Martin and his wife Dr. Julie, Debbie Davis and Paul

Along with our wives, Julie and Debbie, we had a wonderful mean at Orso’s on 5th.