By Jamie Richford, Team MonctonMoves

In the spring of 2009, Team MonctonMoves, which consisted of only two members the previous year (Matt Dunfield and myself) in a department of just over 100 (the Moncton Fire Department in New Brunswick, Canada), was excited to start the year with the addition of two more members (Marcel Dupuis and Jason Bergeron) from the previous year’s recruitment class.


During our first competitions, we went up against teams like Sam Squad, Miami-Dade, Halifax and Team Met-RX—teams that were strong in all areas, such as Team, Relay and Tandems. We knew by the end of that first competition that we wanted to be considered one of these elite teams. We left the competition satisfied by medaling but unsatisfied knowing that we had much more potential than we displayed.

We continued to train hard. Being a smaller team with most of our members under 190 lbs. and all but one under 6 feet tall didn’t faze any of us; we even used this challenge as motivation and inspiration. Our biggest member, Marcel Dupuis, is a competitive lumberjack, and he used his size to motivate him as well. After all, he didn’t want us little guys showing him up. Clearly, good ol’ intra-team competition continued to drive us forward.

Like any team, we had our strengths and weaknesses amongst team members. Some were stronger, some were faster, and some were more efficient, but we all took notes and tried to improve where we needed to.

In the Canadian circuit, we did well, but we were always a little short of winning top place and, instead, ended up runners-up on several occasions to teams like Halifax (two-time Canadian Champions), Kamloops (team record holders and 2009 Canadian Champions) and Windsor (two-time World Champions).

Nationals Time …
At Nationals, we had two new members (Collin Powers and Josh Sollows) join us after another new recruitment class, and we were excited for the competition to begin. We knew the four members at the start of the year were all set to go, and our newest members were looking great in training. After qualifying was over, every member of our team finished with a personal best. We knew we were in the running to become national champions.
We (Marcel Dupuis, Jason Bergeron, Matt Dunfield, Josh Sollows and myself) finished fourth nationally—our best finish at Nationals. One member, Jason Bergeron, was honored with the “Rookie of the Year” award, Moncton’s second in the last 3 years. We again left the competition satisfied with the result and team accomplishment but unsatisfied with the fact that we had potential we couldn’t capitalize on.

Following nationals, we took a couple weeks off to rehab our injuries and defeats, and then we got together and decided on our plan for World’s. In the end, five of us committed (Marcel Dupuis, Jason Bergeron, Matt Dunfield, Collin Powers and myself), and we started our fundraising required to get us to Las Vegas. (Note: Team MonctonMoves raises money throughout the year and donates 20 percent of all proceeds to Firefighters Against Cancer’s Existence, or F.A.C.E. The team truly is an ambassador to the foundation here in Moncton, donating a check once a year at Nationals in support of this great cause. For more information, visit www.monctoncombatchallengeteam.com.)

… And Now World’s
For World’s, we began to train smarter, not necessarily harder. And we seemed to enjoy the benefits of this training in that we were all running faster, cleaner runs on our practice course.

Our goal going into World’s was Top 5. After looking over the Firefighter Challenge Web site and following all the results throughout the year, we figured that if we all had good runs, we could accomplish a Top 5 finish and maybe even slide into third. We figured out that three 1:35s could win it with a team time of 4:45.


We arrived in Vegas with excitement! Only 2 members had visited before. We knew we’d have our fun days after the event, so we all buckled down and prepared for Qualifying.

After the first day, we became even more excited. Three of our members (Jason Bergeron, Collin Powers and myself) ran personal bests. I ran a 1:32, and Jason Bergeron surpassed everyone’s expectations with a 1:33. We all got an itch that maybe we could steal first place by slipping under the radar.

The following day again saw a personal best with Marcel Dupuis running a 1:34 and Matt Dunfield and Collin Powers both equaling or setting personal bests. However, Jason Bergeron took a step back with 1:44. Although concerned, we all still believed that we could be a Top-3 team with a shot at first place.

Going into the final day, Matt Dunfield and Collin Powers both ran personal bests once again, breaking the 1:50 mark, but now the pressure was on the final 3 members to achieve the three 1:35 times we though could win. Our plan was for Jason Bergeron to get us under 1:38 and for the other two members to run under 1:35.

Jason Bergeron started us off with a 1:37—he did his part. Marcel Dupuis followed up with a 1:31, a personal best! He did his part. The final member to go now—me—just needed a low 1:30 mark. I finished close to a personal best with a 1:33, and Moncton became World Champions with a time of 4:41. We finished four seconds under what we thought could win and 3 seconds ahead of those in second place (Kamloops, the 2009 Canadian Champions), followed by third place Nor-Cal (last year’s Champions) and fourth place Halifax (two-time Canadian Champions). The second to fourth place holders were all separated by less than 1 second.

Thanks to All
All the hard work paid off, and the team could not be more excited and honored to be FCC World Champions.
Our team would like to thank the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge (specifically Dr. Paul Davis) and its sponsors for all they do for the competitors. They provide us with a venue so we can not only keep in shape, but also meet other firefighters outside our workplace. We would also like to thank all the competitors who show up to these events. Without everyone’s involvement, it wouldn’t be what it is today. A special thanks to the past champions who push other teams to be better, fitter and faster! Lastly, thank you to our sponsor MonctonMoves.com, which has been with us for 3 years and counting. We could not have achieved this extraordinary goal without its support and dedication. Also, to our chief, Eric Arsenault, representing the City of Moncton, and our IAFF Local 999 for its continued support.

“This is a spectacular achievement,” said Mayor George LeBlanc of Moncton. Because the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge is the Olympics of firefighting, “It was fitting they arrived back home in Moncton the same night the Olympic Flame came to our city.”

“Being the best in the world is just an outstanding accomplishment, and we certainly take great pride in the work of all our firefighters," LeBlanc added.

Deputy Chief for Operations Don McCabe praised the dedication of the firefighters. “Every day, when I stop at Station 2 on my rounds, there’s always at least one of them training,” he said. “Their dedication to this sport has been their life in the department,” he added, noting how they constantly train both on and off duty and then busy themselves with things like fundraising on days off.

FireRescue magazine would like to congratulate Team MonctonMoves on this outstanding accomplishment.

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