Drysdale Fire Brigade will field an urban senior running team at the upcoming VFBV CFA State Firefighter Championships following a 13-year hiatus, made up of eager first timers.
What started with a casual conversation between a few Drysdale and Portarlington brigade members and a visit to the 2025 Championships in Mooroopna, quickly turned into many hands raised to get involved.
Drysdale firefighter of five years, Anthony Connally has taken on the role of both the coach and a runner, following in the footsteps of his father who was a fierce competitor back in the 90s.
"There is a lot of family history here for me, my father used to run a long time ago," Anthony said.
"As we are both interested, we headed to the champs last year and had a look at what had changed since 2013 to decide if we thought we could make it happen within the brigade.
"We reached out to long-time runners at Osborne Park and Melton Fire Brigades, and they were a great help in getting us going.
"We all felt that we have the time now and now's a better time than any, so why not?"
While they are running under the Drysdale banner, three members from Portarlington will join in with them on the weekend of 28-29 March.
After competing in four local competitions so far, Anthony said he is feeling good about their progress.
"We've got a pretty excited team that we have built from scratch and we're pretty happy with the way we've been going," Anthony said.
"It has already been a long season for us - we started training back in May last year.
"It's been a process of preparing equipment and getting everyone equipped to run for the first time.
Anthony said the runners are most looking forward to the hose and reel sixes event.
"Every demo (competition) we have gone to, we have actually won that event, so it has been going well," Anthony said.
"Our training has paid off, because we've been getting some great times."
Anthony's father is a life member of Drysdale and ran during Drysdale's 'A' section team back in 1994. He is now assisting Anthony with coaching duties and imparting his wisdom to the next generation of runners.
Off the track throughout January, several brigade runners were deployed in strike teams to assist at the fires in Mount Mercer, Longwood and within the Great Otway National Park.
"Every single one of us, besides two of our runners, have been on multiple strike teams this summer," Anthony said.
"I did four deployments myself, and we've got another member who has been out five times. It's been a busy season for us all, but we're more than happy to help, and it's nice to come back together for events like this."
