Firefighter to Run Boston Marathon in Gear

MILWAUKEE, Wis. --

Nearly 27,000 runners are expected at Monday's Boston Marathon.

James Gefke, a local firefighter who qualified for the race, said his goal is to finish strong.

He has been training for the marathon with his firefighter's helmet, a jacket and pants, about 30 pounds of additional weight. Gefke hoped to average about a 10-minute mile with all that gear.

The longest he's run to this point, with everything on, is 21 miles.

"A lot of people have stopped to see, 'Hey, you need a ride somewhere?'" Grefke said. "People will hear the sirens or coming from another area and they're making an assumption like I missed hopping on the truck or something and I'm running on the way to wherever that siren's headed."

Gefke said his training has been kind of interesting. While other runners try to shed layers, Gefke piles them on.

"It doesn't allow my body to breathe really well, so I end up sweating quite a bit more than I probably normally otherwise would," Gefke said.

He said his footwear is about the lightest thing on him.

"I probably have 600 or 700 miles on these (shoes)," he said.

Gefke is running his fourth marathon on Monday in his firefighter attire.

"I'm doing it in memory of a very close friend of mine, John Harrington," Gefke said. "He was riding into work that day and was actually my relief. Unfortunately, he was involved in an accident and passed away that day."

Harrington died at the age of 25, after a truck hit his bicycle in Bayview. Every year, there's a bike ride in his memory, which raises money for charity.

As the seventh anniversary of Harrington's death approaches, Gefke is adding another step -- by running the Boston Marathon and raising money for the Wisconsin Burn Survivor's Network.

"He always pushed me to do things I probably wouldn't have otherwise done on my own while he was still here. He instilled a lot of confidence in me for a lot of things that I've been able to accomplish in my life," Gefke said.

Gefke said ever since his friend died, he has always carried a picture of him. On Monday's marathon, Harrington's picture will be in the usual spot, inside Gefke's helmet.

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