The “Baker’s Dozen” team of Peachtree City Fire Department’s Sgt. Clint Murphy, Sgt. Mark Gelhardt and FF/PM Ricky Howard, FF/EMT Jodi Blaess plus volunteer firefighters Ciminnisi, Corsetti, Dyer, Half, Pakulski, Reddy, Russell, H. Waters and J. Waters completed the grueling 14 hour Fit to Flight Relay on Sept. 9. The relay is sponsored by Gold’s Gym.
 
Departing the capitol steps in Atlanta at 7 p.m., the 13 along with fire department teams from Dalton, Cherokee and Cartersville followed Ga. Hwy. 19/41 south through Griffin to the Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC) in Forsyth; a distance of 75 miles.

Rules of the competition stated that two firefighters must always have their feet on the ground, in full turnout gear minus boots, gloves and liners. One member ran with a 30 pound self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) pack and the other with a U.S. flag.
 
Two buses and a RV, which provided break havens between runs for competitors, trailed runners. The Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol provided escort along the entire route. A little over 14 hours later the teams arrived at the fire academy and all entered the facility together in a show of solidarity.
 
The all night trek left lasting memories, sore muscles and a considerable amount of money for the line-of-duty death of Atlanta Firefighter Bill Craddock of DeKalb County.