Huffing and puffing, two girls dashed through the hallways of the police station, arriving at the conference room with huge smiles on their sweaty faces.

It was one of those rare times when arriving at a police station was cause for excitement. Those two girls — Landy Riopelle, secondyear travel and tourism student and her friend Nichole Rendon, secondyear police foundations student — had just been the first contestants to make it to the station for the firstever Peculiar Pentathlon.

The girls raced their way across London, stopping at five locations across the city: Jim Bob Ray's, The Ceeps, Palasad, Via Rail and Laser Quest. Each stop featured activities to teach participants about safe and responsible alcohol consumption, such as pouring proper servings of liquor and beer at Jim Bob Ray's and a beer-goggled ring toss at the Ceeps.

The girls bolted across the city, leaving four other teams of Western and Fanshawe students in the dust. "We ran all the way from Laser Quest," exclaimed Rendon. Small wonder the girls were out of breath; that's nearly two kilometers down Dundas Street.

The Peculiar Pentathlon is part of the Campus Communities initiative by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. The goal of the event was to raise awareness about the launch of the campaign, aimed at post-secondary students, landlords, licensed establishments and other community stakeholders living within campus communities to educate them about safe alcohol consumption.

"We've been working on this for about a year," said Richard Stubbings, a superintendent with Toronto Police Service. "The OACP Alcohol and Gaming Committee has been trying to do something that reaches the student market — the university- and college- aged kids."

"I think it was very much (a success). You can tell by the looks on the kids' faces … they were very, very happy as they came in."

Stubbings "absolutely" thinks the OACP accomplished their goal of raising awareness. "They participated in activities that would cause them to consider the effects of alcohol, and cause them to consider the stages of impairment and safety."

"It's educational in nature, it will promote them telling their friends what a good time they had, and some of the knowledge-based activities they were required to participate in."

Chief of London Police Brad Duncan was visibly proud to be a part of the day's events. "Today, London Police Service is here to assist in the launch of this creative campaign to open a dialogue with post-secondary students regarding the consequences and the rights and responsibilities related to inappropriate or excessive alcohol consumption. We're certainly fortunate to have been chosen as this year's launch community for the province-wide program."

"We support this program, because as police officers, we have witnessed the tragic results of excessive alcohol consumption, resulting in accidental deaths and students involved in other criminal occurrences as a result of poor judgment."

After Riopelle and Rendon caught their breath, they took home some fabulous prizes, including a webcam, gift certificates for Via Rail, Laser Quest, Palasad and Jim Bob Ray's, headphones, a power mat and a t-shirt — plus the thrill of victory and some new facts about alcohol consumption.

For more information — and for some chances to win great prizes — visit www.StaySoberAndWin.com