Another great fire race!

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 455, 29 September 1992, Page 1

Another great fire race!

Ohakune' s skiing fire fighters lost this year's New Zealand Fire Fighters' Ski Championships, but there is no truth in the rumour that the team members will be asked to resign from the brigade because of the result. That was the official word from organisers of

the event, which is the fourth annual fire fighters' races to be run at Turoa. Two of the Ohakune racers would more likely deserve medals for bravery, the Bulletin was told by an unnamed source, because they risked life and limb to enter the event. Firefighter Heather Munn had only skied once

this year before the race, and Dale Hemara is also a novice skier. Winners of the event for 1992 were the "Maniacal Masters" team from the North Shore, Auckland brigade. They were Chas 'Two Persons' Bannar-Martin, Tod 'Mother' Penberthy, Peter 'Retard' Battaerd and

Graham 'Gonzo' Fuller. The team won with a massive 38-point lead over Zit Markers of Wanganui, who beat third place-getters Kia Kaha from Palmerston North 141 points to 187 (lowest score wins). Winner of the "Oh dear - I've Made a Mistake" Cpupling Trophy (this is a family newspaper so we can't use its brigade name) was Brown Watch Newcomers from Wellington. Fastest woman was Sharron 'Nurse Gladys' Armstrong in a combined time of 1 minute, 2.88 secs. Fastest man was Ohakune's Duane Dixon,

54.19 seconds. Slowest skier was 'Popple' from Wellington, time 8 minutes 55.78 seconds! The spread of times indicates the nature of the event - which is ainted at fire fighter fun. Thirty two teams took part this year, up about 10 teams on last year. The hosts, Ohakune Brigade, are looking at the feasibility of hosting an international firefighter's championships some time in the mid 1990s. "We've already had,a US firefighter say they could fill a jumbo jet with firefighters who would be keen to take part," said one of the Ohakune organisers.