It was an afternoon of fierce, but friendly competition at the Harry Jerome track on Saturday afternoon as members from the Prince Albert Police Association, Prince Albert Firefighters and Parkland Ambulance squared off in a 4×100 meter relay race to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation.
Vern Hodgins has been a volunteer for the Terry Fox run in Prince Albert for many years and he says it’s always special to see first responders from across the city compete for a good cause.
“It’s become very dear to me. These guys put their uniforms on every day, go to work. They’re heroes here. They are on an off day. They’re not wearing their uniforms, but they’re raising money for cancer research in support of in my humble opinion, Canada’s greatest hero.”
The Prince Albert Police Association would win the relay race with the team of Troy Preymack, Joey Hockley, Logan Cherwyk and Tanner Schultz. Parkland Ambulance was represented by Brendin St. Amand, Justin Reid-Pellettien, Carter McLean and David Salisbury. The Prince Albert Firefighters were represented by Tyler Wendel, Jon Wawro, Tyler Stahl and Wade Fehr.
After the win, Josh Peterson from the Prince Albert Police Association spoke about how special the event is to compete in.
“It’s a lot of fun every year. I think myself and Jordan Ambrose from Parkland, we’ve been either running or coaching in this event for at least ten years. The bragging rights mean a lot. Obviously, raising money for the Terry Fox Foundation is huge, but at the end of the day, between us, the firefighters and Parkland Ambulance, there’s quite a friendly rivalry where we I think each of us enjoy beating the others.”
Throughout the event leading up to the race, the first responders were all ready for the friendly competition. Peterson says there is a sense of belonging between all three units due to working closely on the job.
“There is a lot of friendly engagement between the teams, and we all recognize each other from essentially working together on major calls. But at the end of the day, it’s fun when you can beat your friends in in an athletic competition and then hold it over them for the next year.”
Before the race, several cheques were presented to the Terry Fox Foundation including $500 from the Prince Albert Police Association
Peterson says it is important to him to give back to the community.
“It’s a pretty good feeling. And that’s one of the rewards of being a police officer is being able to give back to the community. The $500 we have today was raised from our police association. So, our members paid pay our dues, but we do donate a lot of money throughout the course of the year to community events.”
Peterson also adds that it was an honor competing in an event named after Terry Fox.
“I think when you consider everything that he did in his limited amount of time on Earth, it is pretty incredible. Terry Fox, he made the ultimate sacrifice, running a marathon a day. The commitment it would take. He knew he was dying, but he did it anyways to raise money for cancer to help people in the future. I think that’s absolutely incredible.”
The 2023 Terry Fox Run will take place on Sept. 17 at 1 p.m, beginning at the Alfred Jenkins Field House.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
