Johnny Buice got lucky.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Buice said. “Not on (the) Fourth in Atlanta.”
He could only be referring to the notorious Georgia heat.
Buice, a retired firefighter who served 36 years in Douglas County, trekked down The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race course in full gear. He didn’t speed walk. He didn’t jog. Buice ran, helmet, oxygen tank and all, through the cool 67-degree Atlanta breeze.
“It wasn’t about us just running,” said Douglas Kerns, a Dalton County firefighter suited up with Buice at the finish line.
The two men, along with a handful of other firefighters, ran in honor of Atlanta firefighter Frank Guinn and local running enthusiast Andrew Powell. Guinn and Powell were struck by a car while training in New Orleans the day before an Iron Man competition in April. Guinn was killed in the wreck and Powell, Guinn’s brother-in-law, sustained life-altering injuries.
Guinn left behind a set of triplet daughters and Buice’s Peachtree run on Friday aimed to help raise awareness and money to help the Guinn family. Buice has ran in full gear before, like in 2002 as a tribute 9/11 and last year to honor firefighters who died fighting wild fires out west.
“Firefighters are firefighters,” Buice said. “It matters not if you’re on the east coast or west coast.”
Buice said he and Kerns clocked 12-minute miles on Friday, although his record in full gear stands at 59 minutes. The third mile of the course meant a little bit more, as Buice and Kerns had a chance to stop and talk to Powell outside the Shepherd Center along the way.
“He vowed to me over there today that he’d be out here next year,” Buice said, “and I believe him.”
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