The Gladiator of Charlotte Fire Competes and Wins on the World Stage
Published on August 07, 2025
David Bowman stands outside Charlotte Firehouse 10, where his decades of service meet his drive for firefighter competition excellence.
By Kevin Campbell, Charlotte Fire
At 56 years old, David Bowman does not just put on his turnout gear. He straps on the armor of a modern-day gladiator. For nearly three decades, the Charlotte native and veteran of Engine 10 has been battling more than flames. On challenge courses across the United States and the world, Bowman has transformed the grueling demands of firefighting into a competitive sport, one that has earned him world titles, national championships, and induction into the Firefighter Challenge League’s Hall of Fame.
Bowman’s journey into the arena of elite firefighter athletics began in 1998, just a year after joining Charlotte Fire. He had never set out to be a firefighter, nor an international champion. In fact, his path to the fire service was sparked by a single newspaper clipping.
Bowman at Firehouse 10, reflecting on the dedication and discipline that fuel his world championship firefighter challenge runs.
“My mom literally cut out the thing in the Charlotte Observer and said, ‘I think you’d be good at this,’” Bowman recalls with a grin. “I applied, and I was lucky enough to be accepted my first try. From the first day, I loved it.”
That simple twist of fate set Bowman on a path that would combine duty and passion. Twenty-eight years later, he has not only built a decorated fire service career but also an athletic résumé few in the world can match.
To watch Bowman compete is to witness the raw physicality of firefighting distilled into a high-speed crucible. The Firefighter Challenge, often called the toughest two minutes in sports, mimics the critical tasks a firefighter may face on a chaotic fireground executed at breakneck speed while wearing full bunker gear and breathing air from an SCBA.
Competing at the 2025 World Police and Fire Games, Bowman powers through the toughest two minutes in sports while representing Charlotte Fire.
“There are six different elements,” Bowman explains. “You’re on air, just like you would be at a house fire. First, you carry a high-rise pack up five flights of stairs. You drop it, hoist a second hose up the same stairs, come back down, and then hit a Kaiser machine with a sledgehammer to simulate opening a roof.”
The sequence is relentless. After the simulated roof vent, competitors weave through a serpentine of hydrants, advance a fully charged hose line 75 feet to hit a target, and finish with a 175-pound rescue dummy drag for 100 feet. For Bowman, every second counts.
“At my last event in St. Paul, I ran it in 1:45,” he says. “The second-place guy was at 2:15. But at Worlds last year, I hit 1:38. That is the level you have to be at to compete with the best.”
The veteran firefighter stands in front of Firehouse 10, a place he calls home as both a firefighter and a world-class competitor.
And compete he has. Bowman has logged more than 200 individual runs in his 28-season career. His trophy case includes 12 world championships, more than seven national championships, and multiple world records across age divisions. In 2024, his lifetime of dedication earned him the ultimate recognition: induction into the Dr. Paul O. Davis Firefighter Challenge Hall of Fame.
“That one was special,” Bowman says quietly. “You’re voted in by your peers, by people you’ve looked up to for years. It’s 27 years of hard work all coming together.”
Bowman’s roots run as deep in Charlotte as the brick walls of Firehouse 10. A 1987 graduate of Myers Park High School, he embodies the term “Charlotte through and through.” He joined Charlotte Fire in 1997 and has spent more than 20 years in Special Operations, including work with North Carolina’s Urban Search and Rescue team and the NC HART (Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team) program.
Away from the fireground and challenge course, Bowman relaxes with his wife Lori and their dog Willow.
His life as a competitor and firefighter are inseparable. Competing on the challenge course is more than a personal pursuit. It is a professional advantage.
“I think it prepares me better to serve the community,” Bowman says. “If I’m in shape, I can do my job better. My goal has always been to be ready when the bell rings, ready to take someone from a bad place to a good place. That is what our job is, whether it is a small EMS call or a terrible fire.”
He credits his longevity to a simple philosophy: it is easier to stay in shape than to fall out and fight your way back. Even as some of the top competitors in the sport rotate out, Bowman continues to compete with younger athletes, earning gold medals and world titles well into his fifties.
“Chief Johnson has always said he wants our retirement to be longer than our careers,” Bowman says. “That is one of the reasons I do this. To outlast, to be ready, and to still be able to serve.”
Bowman in full turnout gear at Firehouse 10, standing beside Engine 10, ready to answer the next call and represent Charlotte Fire’s strength and skill.
“To do it this long at this level sets you apart,” he admits, though his tone is more reflective than boastful. “I’ve just been blessed to have my health and the support of my family and my firehouse.”
The firefighter challenge community has become a second family for Bowman, expanding the brotherhood of the fire service onto a global stage.
“As firefighters, we already have a bond, no matter where you are in the world,” he says. “The challenge just adds another layer. I’ve got friends from all over, Canada, Europe, people I talk to all the time. The woman I ran tandem with in St. Paul is a captain in Canada. It is pretty incredible to share this with people from other countries and learn how they do the job.”
Wearing his North Carolina USAR team uniform, Bowman represents the many hats he wears in service and competition.
This community, he says, has carried him through years of competition, constant training, and the mental grind of staying at the top of a sport that is as punishing as it is rewarding.
Accolades of a Gladiator
Bowman’s accomplishments read like the career of a professional athlete:
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12 World Championships, including individual titles in the over-45, over-50, and over-55 categories.
And yet, for all the medals and titles, Bowman measures success differently.
Surrounded by the tools of the job, Bowman wears several of the gold medals he earned on the world stage in the past year alone.
“My biggest goal has always been to be useful,” he says. “To be ready for the citizens of Charlotte and to make my department proud.”
Charlotte Fire Chief Reginald Johnson says Bowman’s achievements are a reflection of his dedication not just to himself, but to the city he serves.
“David Bowman is the embodiment of commitment and excellence,” Chief Johnson says. “He is a world-class athlete, a mentor to his peers, and a firefighter whose heart is as strong as his will. His success in the firefighter challenge is remarkable, but what inspires me most is how he channels that strength into serving our community. He is, without a doubt, one of Charlotte Fire’s modern-day gladiators.”
Leaning against the brick walls of Firehouse 10, Bowman’s focus and discipline mirror the strength that has made him a firefighter challenge champion.
Bowman shows no signs of slowing down. Even as he eyes future competitions, he continues to train, mentor younger firefighters, and uphold the standards that earned him a place among the elite.
“You can’t do this halfway,” he says. “Every event you step into, you’re wearing the Charlotte Fire name. That means something to me. I want people to know that we’re not just ready for competition, we’re ready for the call.”
A close-up of Bowman’s Firefighter Challenge Hall of Fame medal and a selection of his championship rings, displayed on the gear that helped earn them.
For Bowman, the fireground and the challenge course are two sides of the same coin, places where preparation meets purpose. His armor may be turnout gear instead of bronze, and his arena may be a stair tower instead of the Colosseum, but his mission is timeless, to fight, to endure, and to lift others from danger to safety.
“I just want to keep doing what I love,” Bowman says. “If I can still run, still help, and still bring someone from a bad place to a good place, then I’ve done my job. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Bowman in the cab of Engine 10, ready for the next call and always prepared for the next challenge.