AK

In response to the question "Why are you climbing?":

I have served as a paid on-call and casual full-time firefighter since 2011. Over those 19 years I have competed in Firefit and Fire Combat Challenge events across Canada and the United States. In 2019 I was part of a world-record relay team for men over 60.

Two years ago a meniscus tear in my left knee ended my season. After unsuccessful surgery, I had a total knee replacement in January. Recovery has gone well, but I am sidelined from Firefit competitions this year. The Calgary Stair Climb has become my focus—a concrete goal that keeps my training disciplined and supports my return to full duty.

My granddaughter, who grew up listening to my firefighter stories, has now joined her local department. She will climb with her own team the same day I climb with mine. Knowing we are taking the same stairs on the same day makes every step more meaningful.

The deeper reason I am climbing, though, is to remember Jacques Breton. Jacques was a firefighter from Quebec I competed against for many seasons. We spoke no common language, so our exchanges were usually hand signals and smiles of respect. In 2019, at the world competition in Montgomery, Alabama, one of his teammates told me Jacques had asked them to add me to their relay team. We set a new world record for men over 60 that day.

Three years later we were assembling another relay team with Jacques when, the night before the event, I learned he had died that same day. We were all devastated.

Jacques once said, through a translator, that he stayed fit out of love for the fire service and to show younger members what was possible. With a characteristic glint in his eye he added that he also liked to confound those who claimed he was too old to do the job.

I am climbing in remembrance of Jacques—both for the example he set and for the chance he once took on me.