On
Wednesday night athletes of all different levels and ages showed up to
participate in the 2nd Club
Northwest All-Comers Track & Field Series meet of the season. Most of the athletes wore colorful racing singlets, athletic shorts and some form of fancy
footwear on their feet, but not Tony Robinson. Robinson, who is an Edmonds
Firefighter, showed up in what could very well be the most gear you could wear
to race a mile; he wore a helmet, a heavy firefighter jacket, thick firefighter
pants and some very, very, very big boots.
In an
attempt to raise awareness and funds for Camp
Eyabsut-a camp that benefits burn-injured youth, Robinson chose Shoreline
Stadium on Wednesday to take a shot at breaking the Firefighter Mile Record. In
order to break the record, he would have to run under 10 minutes for a full
mile with his firefighter gear on. As he took to the starting line, Robinson
was cheered on by a very enthusiastic crowd which included participating
athletes, meet officials, staff and campers from Eyabsut, a few dozen firefighters
from the Shoreline Department and some family members.
As
the final lap sounded, the man in the firefighter gear started to pick up his
heavy boots at a faster rate: he dug deep and pumped his arms powerfully from
within his bulky jacket while making an urgent rush towards the finish line.
When Tony crossed the line people were cheering, a woman was crying, kids were
smiling and the only thing that stood unmoved was the clock, at 8 minutes and 4
seconds. The record was his.
In the end, Tony’s time was just a series of numbers that would fail to capture the effort, heart and good will that a firefighter displayed last night for 1609 meters. Each week the Club Northwest meet officials choose an Athlete of the Meet, I've got a feeling it might have been the guy in the very, very, very big boots.
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