Following a Father’s Stair Steps

The World Police & Fire Games has many examples of children following their parents into a first responder career, and then joining in for some fun competition. Jose Antonio Gomez Milara, a Battalion Chief and 34-year veteran for the Madrid Fire Department in Spain, started competing in WPFG events in 1999 and has not missed one since. Now, his 25-year old son Marcos will join him for the 2025 Games in Birmingham.

“Marcos was four when he came to the the 2005 Games for the first time with me, and he’s been to 10 Games as my son and supporter. But he didn't want to be a firefighter,” Jose recalls. “When he was 16 years old, he was just playing PlayStation, PlayStation, PlayStation in the house. I told him, ‘I think you must think about your future, because PlayStation doesn't give you anything to eat.’”

Marcos decided to study physical education and become a firefighter after college. Now he trains with “Papa” Jose for Stair Race and Toughest Competitor Alive, his father’s signature events. He could not have a better role model, as Jose very often stands atop the podium, and he treasures that he was the first to win individual and team Gold in Stair Race when it was introduced in 2001. 

Now 56, Jose is still driven to compete. He knows the importance of fitness, having been the first to enter the building in the 1994 Windsor high rise fire in Madrid, which he barely escaped from. “Thanks to my feet I can be here talking with you,” he says. “I'm really thankful and motivated to go to these Games. I think the sports I chose help me to be a better firefighter.”

“Now Marcos is my son and also my partner,” he adds. “It's fantastic. I'm really proud when we’re both on duty and I go to a fire together with my son.”

By Del Moon