Cambridge woman celebrates world record time in firefighter challenge

A Cambridge firefighter is celebrating her world record time at the American Firefighter Challenge League’s season opener in Indiana.

The competition is known by some as the toughest two minutes in sports and includes a series of physical challenges.

Kelly Campbell took home gold in fiery fashion by setting a world record time of two minutes and 46 seconds to secure the win in the under age 40 female division.

“It was an all Canadian team. So for us to go down there and beat all the Americans on their course was pretty special,” said Campbell.

The race consists of running up six flights of stairs, carrying weights, hitting a target with a fully charged hose and caring a 175 lbs dummy, 106 feet to finish the race.

“It’s incredibly hard. “It’s incredibly humbling but once you do it, you get addicted to it. You just want to keep bettering your times,” she said.

Cambridge Fire Chief Rob Martin showed his support for Campbell’s achievements and said it builds moral when the team rallies behind her.

“It’s directly related to the job so it’s extra special that way. We’re super proud of her. She did a great job down there,” said Martin.

This was the first event of the season for the American firefighter challenge league and Campbell was the only firefighter from the region.

She also took home gold in the team relay with Team Canada and a bronze in the all female tandem race.

With a couple of gold medal wins under her belt, Campbell plans to keep pushing to be the best.

“The goal is to be top five at the worlds. So I’ve got a lot of work to do but it’s fun to have goals,” Campbell said.

The Canadian fire challenge series kicks off in British Columbia at the end of May. There is an event being held in St. Catharines in July and the worlds will take place in Nashville in October.