The Division of Fire earns top honor with firefighters Zachary Sayles’ and Nathan Beahm’s back-to-back wins.
The June 2nd battle for the “Fittest Public Safety Division of the Year” was like no other in history. The 2023 Public Safety Games teams series was quite the performance to watch, with seven very eager Division of Fire teams competing against one another throughout May in 3 qualifying events: A 60-minute Endurance Run-Row-Bike sequence, a 15-minute Dumbbell Work Capacity Event, and a Pentathlon for the Strength Event. Each team earned points based on their rank from the seven events, and the top 2 teams earned their spot in the Final Obstacle Course Event. After many years of participating in the Public Safety Games, Firefighter (FF) Tanner Kump, with his teammate FF Lam Le, claimed the 2nd place spot to enter into the Public Safety Games final event facing the 2022 defending champions FF Zachary Sayles and Lt. Natham Beahm!
The final event included an 8-stage indoor course that featured many “Strongman” implements like the Yoke, “Strongman” bags, rope climbs, kettlebells, and barbells mixed with echo bikes, rowers, and stair climbs. After completing the first four stages of the course, the firefighters had to finish the course in all of their gear and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). In its entirety, it was a consummation of many performance tasks a tactical athlete could endure that relied heavily on teamwork, communication, tactical awareness, mental acuity, and the overall ability to work for an extended period in a high-stress environment.
Congratulations to Station 6 B-Shift FF Zachary Sayles and Lt. Nathan Beahm for successfully defending their 2022 title and to the Division of Fire for claiming the Fittest Public Safety Division of the Year title for the fifth time! Their names have been added to the Public Safety Games “Fittest Public Safety Division” plaque inside the lobby of the Henrico Training Center.
Alongside the main competition, we had many other public safety personnel support their respective divisions (Police, Fire, and Sheriff) through individual competitions that included cardiovascular, work capacity, and strength events. There were also ten non-competitive, honor-system-based mini-events to give more participants the opportunity to join the fun and support their divisions without worrying about their age or fitness levels. Congratulations to the Division of Police for collecting the most points from the individual competitions.
All in all, this year’s Public Safety Games were successful, and we hope participation continues to grow! We look forward to the 2024 Public Safety Games, the 8th anniversary of the Games, as our vision continues to unfold.
Head to the Fitness and Wellness SharePoint page to see all the details of the Public Safety Games events, including the preliminary events, final obstacle course, and mini events. There are also plenty of captured moments and videos of the action!
Once again, congratulations to all the winners!
If you are sworn public safety personnel and are interested in either the Public Safety Games or joining any of our sworn only fitness programs please contact Joshua Gaskins at gas001@henrico.us or 501-7218.
For more information about all of our programs, please view the Fitness and Wellness Division Sharepoint:
https://henricova.sharepoint.com/Fitness_Wellness
