Per ardua ad astra... through adversity to the stars

Hi, my name is Phil Neil and I am a fire fighter with The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service in Belfast.

This is my first time taking part in the World Police and Fire Games; I’ll be competing in the Time Trial which is one of the 5 cycling events featuring at the Games.

Nine years ago I broke both my ankles after a fall from a first floor window ledge – I never thought I’d walk again, let alone cycle! I had surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and ended up with a titanium plate and 8 screws in my legs. The Consultant there was pretty frank about my condition, in his own words he told me, “Mr Neil you will never run again……….not even across the hospital car park!”. To say I was utterly shattered by this is truly an understatement.

The Olympics and Paralympics in Athens were on TV when I was confined to my bed in hospital and that helped motivate me to get better and prove the medical profession wrong! With aggressive determination, drive and fighting spirit I got back to my training and here I am today getting in form for the Games in Belfast!

So far, everything has been going really well - I'm now in week 37 of a year-long training programme which has been put together by a fellow fire fighter, Brendy McConville. I met Brendy at Fire Training School over 13 years ago; he’s probably the best coach to have as he’s a Commonwealth Games Athlete and also competing in this year’s Games.

We get together for our training sessions in several gyms, as well as at some outside venues (which is sometimes interesting in our Northern Irish climate!). Having said that, we are really lucky to have some great outdoor locations to train; we regularly head to Groomsport Beach and Ward Park, Bangor for some plyometric and sprint sessions.

It’s been a tough route to get to this point, but I believe anything is possible and I never, ever give up! Living my life by the motto ‘Per ardua ad astra’ (Through adversity to the stars) keeps me focused and driven!

Sybrand Bleeker from Amsterdam

Hello there! My name is Sybrand Bleeker and I’ve been a fire fighter for over 7 years in the Amsterdam Fire Brigade.

When I'm not busy at the fire station I love to do all kinds of sports. I am particularly passionate about mountain biking (even though we don’t have any mountains in Holland!) and I’m a keen runner. I love trail running and also doing survival runs – these are a mixture of trail running and obstacles – pretty tough, but great fun!

I’ve competed in the Games before – two years ago I took part in the Ultimate Firefighter event in New York, it was a really wonderful experience! This year, I decided to do the long distance orienteering; I am looking forward to doing something different in Belfast!

I am actually travelling over to Northern Ireland two weeks before the Games – my girlfriend and I are having a little holiday and will be biking on the west coast. We are aiming to do around 850 kilometres before we head to Belfast.

This will be our first visit to Northern Ireland and we are both really looking forward to it! We will try to bring some Dutch weather with us!

Last minute team training!!

Karen Batley, Catherine McKeown, Karen Mulholland and Clare Jamison

The World Police and Fire Games team is training for another challenge!  Members of the team have got together with the PSNI and NI Fire Service to compete in the Runher 10K Coastal Challenge. The run takes place this Friday on the scenic path along the shores of Belfast Lough.

The WPFG team will join over 1,200 women from throughout Northern Ireland which starts in Holywood and finishes at Crawfordsburn Country Park.

Best of luck to everyone! Fingers crossed the coastal winds are blowing in the right direction!

Meet Karen and her team from Australia!

I've been part of the South Australia Police for over 30 years and my job has taken me across the northern areas of Adelaide, including Holden Hill, Port Adelaide, Elizabeth and Gawler.

I wouldn't really describe myself as an athlete, I just like to get involved in a variety of sports that give the best social atmosphere (and that's exactly what I think the World Police and Fire Games are ALL about!!).

So, my latest social sport is darts and I have put together a team especially for the Belfast Games - the 'Darts Tarts'! This will be the first time I have competed in darts - in fact, this is a new sport to all of us, but we believe we will put up a good fight at the Games – and no doubt provide lots of laughs!

 

I am really excited about the opportunity for services personnel from all over the world to get together and share a ‘super friendly’ atmosphere through sport. The World Police and Fire Games is the event where this can happen. My first experience of this was in Adelaide in 2007 and that's when I decided to compete in future Games. My favourite part of every Games is the Opening Ceremony and being part of the parade with all the international competitors.

I have managed to rally together some non-police friends, Di and Gary from New South Wales and Jo from Canberra, along with Dianna, Lesely-Ann and Geraldine to follow us to Belfast as a cheer squad for all the competitors. Together, these six, now known as the 'Darts Tartlets', will cheer on any South Australian (or even Australian) in any event!

After the Games, I have a must-do tourist list which includes the Giant's Causeway and the Black Taxi tour in Belfast. My plan is then to visit the Jameson Distillery in Dublin before crossing the Irish Sea to England to do a bit of travelling with the Tartlets.
See you all in August - come and cheer Jan, Allan and me on at the Darts event! I'll see you for a pint of the black stuff afterwards!

Have you taken up a new sport? Do have a great team like Karen's? Send us an e-mail and we can share your story with other athletes on our Blog!

TCA – Transformation, Commitment, Achievement

Hello my name is Peter Thompson and I am a 30 year old constable in the Police Service of Scotland.

My story began in 2005 when I was tipping the scales at nearly 18 stone, I had always wanted to become a Police Officer and one day I realised I just had to do something if I was going to achieve this. So, I made major lifestyle changes, followed a new diet and fitness regime and ended up shedding around 4 stone! This was both an emotional and physical journey and finally I was accepted into the Police Service in 2006.

This has been a huge turnaround in my life and I am thrilled to say that I am taking part in this year’s Toughest Competitor Alive event – something I could never imagined doing 8 years ago!

Do you have any inspirational stories you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you, please drop us an email and we'll get in touch!

Egor's case of mistaken identity!

Andrey Naumov and Egor Iakovlev

Greetings from Russia! I’m Egor Iakovlev Chelyabinsk and I work for the Russian Federal Bailiffs Service. My sport is Karate and I hold a black belt in the sport.

I’ve competed in the Games before in 2011 in New York which was a great experience for me, despite having a bit of a tricky time with one of the officials there! I was preparing for my first event and one of the judges approached me to say that he knew exactly who I was. I was very surprised as I am really not a famous or well-known competitor anywhere! He wasn’t happy at all and took me aside to tell me I was not going to be allowed to compete because I had a reputation for being a very dangerous competitor!

I was so, so shocked and after a lot of discussion and debate it turned out that he had mistaken me for one of Fyodor Emelyanenko's ultimate fighters known as ‘Baby Fyodor’. I ended up having to get my official documents to prove who I really was and then he finally allowed me to carry on in the competition. It was a very worrying moment for me, but I earned the new title of ‘Baby Fyodor’ for the rest of the Games!

I am looking forward to competing in the Northern Ireland Games and then taking some time to have a lovely holiday with my wife after the competition.

I really hope to win some medals in Belfast and perhaps be known as ‘Champion Baby Fydor’ for this year’s Games!!!



We love Egor's story! If you would like to share your sporting experiences, interesting stories, or just tell us how your training is going, please contact Karen in the 2013 Communications Team. We look forward to hearing from you!

Eric Beauchamp – competing for a cause

My name is Eric Beauchamp and I'm a police officer in the Longueuil Police Department in the province of Québec, Canada. I’ve been in the force for 7 years and the Belfast Games will be my first experience of the World Police and Fire Games. I will be competing in two events – Mountain Biking and Toughest Competitor Alive.

My reason for taking part in the Games is to raise money for the HTAPQ Foundation which supports people who have the incurable disease Artery Pulmonary Hypertension, a condition that my wife suffers from. My goal is to raise $5000, and to help me achieve this I have created my own website, as well as Facebook and Twitter pages.

This is the first time I have put so much time and effort into something; I'm not expecting to win any medals, my only goal is to reach the magic number of $5000! My training regime for the Games is extremely challenging and each week I complete the following:

3 x 100km road cycles

3 x 30km mountain bike cycles

1 x cross-fit sessions

2 x spin sessions

3 x gym session

1 x 5km runs

50 x 100m sprints

I am very lucky to have so much support as I find the training so demanding, both mentally and physically. People have rallied round to be my personal trainers, motivators and training buddies – all of which is helping me through this gruelling regime!

I can’t wait to visit Northern Ireland and compete with some amazing athletes in the Games!

Click on the following links for more information about the Cycling and TCA events, or if you’d like to register for any of the sports events please click here.

 

WPFG Team hit the streets of Belfast!!

On Monday 6 May, over 20,000 runners are expected to compete in the 32nd Belfast City Marathon. Some of our energetic World Police and Fire Games team have signed up to compete in this fantastic event. They will be taking part in different elements of the marathon - ranging from the marathon walk, the team relay to the full-blown 26.2 miles!

Other members of our friendly team will be at the Marathon Expo which is located on the front lawn of Belfast City Hall, so come along between today and Sunday 5th May to meet the team and find out more about the Games!

Good luck to all the participants from the 2013 WPFG team!!!!!

David Moore – ready for WPFG number 3!

Hi there from Canada! My name is David Moore and I'm a police officer with Toronto Police Service.

I am coming over to Belfast to compete in all of the Cycling events this year - Hill Climb, Road Race, Time Trial and Criterium. And if these events weren’t challenging enough, I am also competing in the 5k Cross Country event!

I have been to the Games twice before; I ran in the Half Marathon in Vancouver in 2009 and cycled in the Time Trial New York in 2011 (unfortunately Hurricane Irene stopped me doing any of the other cycling events - I'll make up for that in Belfast!).

Right now, I race with Morning Glory Cycling Club in Toronto and compete in road, cyclocross and mountain biking. I am training as hard as I can, but it’s a challenge fitting it all in around work and family!

I am very much looking forward to competing in Belfast – I know they're going to do a great job with the 2013 Games.

Click on the following links for more information about the Cycling and Cross Country events, or if you’d like to register for any of the sports events please click here.

Three months 'til the start of play for Cricket!

 
20/20 Cricket will be played for the first time at the World Police and Fire Games this year.

The matches begin on the first day of the Games at three venues in Belfast: International Pitch at Stormont Pavilion, Shaw's Bridge Sports Association and Newforge Country Club. Click here to find out more about the Cricket event.

Please note that team entries must be registered 24th May. After this date, registration closes for detailed schedules to be drawn up.

Don't miss out - click here to register now!