Day 131 September 14, 2011 Suffield to Brooks 70km – Mike’s View

As far I can remember, this day started like any other regular day, with nothing out of the ordinary happening that morning, just another warm sunny day on Highway 1.  That afternoon, however, was one of the greatest fire escorts in the history of the world!

As we were approaching the town of Brooks, Alberta, I started to notice 2 separate photographers.  Having photographers come out to film Riley is not unusual these days, however, these ones did not say hello to Riley or myself at all.  In fact, they were driving regular vehicles and looked like ordinary people.  Perhaps they were ordinary people just out to see the runner himself, as he runs across Canada to raise awareness for Prostate Cancer.  But even supporters would honk and wave.  In the end, it turned out that they were local media.

As we reached the far edge of town, there were 3 fire trucks waiting for us, as well as their FireFit team.  We drove into town, and the fire department really wanted to use this as a media opportunity for both of us.  The Fire department had their 2 small trucks in the lead, followed by Riley, Russ and the Fire Fit team, with the Mobile Command Centre behind the runners and their largest Fire Ladder Truck taking up the tail.  There are 2 reasons why this escort was so AMAZING.

1- Main Street is a five-lane road. Two lanes in each direction, and the centre lane is reserved for making left turns.  We went down the centre lane!

2- Not only did the fire trucks have their lights on, but also their Sirens blaring!  In fact, the driver of the large ladder truck at the back had his 2 5 year old twins with him, and he let them play with the sirens as much as they liked.  Let's just say that the siren did not sound the same for more than 20 seconds before changing to a new tone.  

As the driver of the MCC, I particularly started to enjoy this escort for 2 reasons.

1- I would watch all of the cars passing as they did not know what to do.  They could hear the sirens and see the lights as if they were racing to a fire, however, we were rolling at about 10 km/hr!  No one knew how to react!

2- As the large ladder truck behind me was blaring his horn, I decided to take part as well, so I began to honk the MCC's horn.  Russ, who was running with Riley and the others behind the first 2 trucks, turned around to laugh at me, just as the truck in front of him hit the brakes.  By the time he turned back around after mocking me, he had run into the back of that particular truck.  Made my day!

The rest of the night was spent in their station giving interviews to the media that was there, which included newspaper and television.  We were able to slide down the fire pole, however, Riley declined.  Something about his legs not being strong enough to stop him at the bottom or something…

Since it was a volunteer department, no one stayed overnight, so we had the run of the place.  The first thing we all did was use their warm showers.  After that, I made another one of my famous stir-frys, and we all ate it upstairs in the fire hall, while watching the Rugby World Cup on their huge projector TV!

To finish off the evening, I beat Russ at a game of Foosball, and then we all went to bed in the MCC, parked just outside.  What a fun evening!

A BIG THANKS to the Brooks Volunteer Fire Department for their huge show of support.  We appreciate it, and had a blast!

-Michael Downie