Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Posting record times during Firefighter Challenge events is old hat for Cpt. Lianne McAuley, but thanks to a birthday between competitions, she’s gone from ‘setting’ to ‘establishing’.
After celebrating her 60th birthday recently, the Stone Mills Firefighter competed on the world stage at the 2025 World Police and Fire Games, held in Nashville, Tenn.
Dressed in full bunker gear, firefighters are tasked with running a course that sees them simulate the rigours of an emergency call, from running stairs to dragging dummies and everything in between. McAuley completed the course in a time of four minutes, one second and 63 milliseconds. As the only 60 year old to complete the course solo, her time now stands as an established world record for the 60 and over division.
Technically she broke her own record set earlier at the competition, as her qualifying time was slightly higher than the 4.01.63 she ran during the actual competition-which represents a new personal best for her as well.
“I had to race with the (age) 50-54 because they didn’t have a category for me,” said McAuley, who spoke with the Beaver as she made her way back to Canada following the week long competition. “But I’m ok with it. I came second in that. I wish I would have left it all on the course, I still had some gas in my tank, but you never know.”
McAuley held some back because she was set to compete in several categories throughout the week-and continued to set records as the days rolled on.
Partnered with Martha Ellis in the tandem competition, the team established a new record for the 60-64 division. Though McAuley had partnered with Ellis in the past, this marked her first time since turning 60, thus allowing them to post a new record.
For the mixed division, McAuley paired with Joe Arico from Exeter, On, where they worked together to not only win gold, but set yet another world record with a time of 2:10.12.
Still not done, McAuley and the team of Tina Duncan from Napanee, Diane Salter from Stone Mills and Lindsay Ingram from Winnipeg set a new record for 50 and over four-person relay with a time of 2:40.52.
In the co-ed hybrid relay her team of Arico, Kevin Voyles, Ellis and Bill Christiansen placed second in the 50-59 division, runner-ups to a team that included Napanee’s Kevin and Tina Duncan.
“We’re starting to see more people over the age of 50 which is fantastic,” said McAuley. “I hope it’s working, getting out there and training and showing people, especially women, that they can do this.”
Nashville’s competition represented the end of the Firefighter Challenge season, which holds regional events across the world. Competitions will start up again in April with next year’s circuit including a regional qualifier taking place in Tamworth scheduled for late August, hosted by the Stone Mills Fire Department. More details will be made available as the event draws nearer.
“Hopefully people will come out and see what their firefighters are capable of doing,” said McAuley. “I think they will be impressed and for those who don’t work out, maybe they will decide to start.”
After a successful 2024 season, McAuley says she’ll almost certainly return for another year.
“It would be hard to come off a competition with that much success and say I wasn’t (going to keep racing),” she said. “It’ll just depend on what the body can continue to absorb with the training and what’s required for this course.”
She credited her success to many folks who help her throughout the training season.
“Thank you to everybody that trains with and Napanee Fire for continuing to let me use their tower and my family and friends who put up with my craziness during the competition season and all those who are being supportive,” she added.