Marathon Volunteering

This past weekend was packed with runner energy.  It started early on Saturday morning when Cindy, the race director, picked me up.  It was fun watching a race setting be built from the bottom up.  With a couple of other club members, I manned the “Avenue Store”, the race logo gear that people could buy.  I chatted with excited veterans, first timers, and a whole slew of Team in Training runners as they perused the merchandise.  This race wasn’t a big deal for me since I had planned to NOT race it, but simply participate.  I watched the excitement from across the table all day long.  About mid-afternoon, I stood on completely sore feet, impressed with the fact that I could carry on conversation with strangers for so long without becoming absolutely drained, physically and mentally.  

One man, in his 60s, came up and told me he was running the marathon, his fifth this year, casually adding that he was doing so on three broken toes.  My jaw dropped, not because of his marathon number, but that he was insane enough to run on broken toes.  “But what if they don’t heal properly and you can never run again?” I asked.  He shrugged saying, “I’ve got a marathon a month until December, and then I’ll think about that”.  We chatted about the course and race day for a while, he turned to me before leaving and asked, “Can I interview you on camera?” 

Crap.

So if you’re one day watching a show on Animal Planet/Discovery Channel, and you see me on this guy’s show, try not to laugh at me too much.  The only good thing I said between all the awkward twitching and weirdness is that I eat Lucky Charms for breakfast on race morning because they give me magic powers (truth!).

That night, Matt and I did a complete re-do of his pre-race plan from Boston.  We watched Unbreakable: Western States 100 again.  It was just as great as the first few times I’d seen it.  You should check it out if you haven’t already.  I was just happy that I also got a re-do at being his cheerleader.  And yes, he did let me paint his nails again.

SRRC photo, Y. Kim credit.

Sunday morning, Matt and I were up early to man the registration table.  He dashed off at about 7:30 to jump in line with the marathoners.  I followed at about 8:00 to prepare for my race. 

 SRRC photo, Y. Kim credit.

Volunteers got a bunch of extra fun perks, so we were happy to help out, regardless of them.  The main draw for us was the promise of a free race entry, but we enjoyed the free food, shirts, and other goodies that came with it too.  I also enjoyed our early arrival, because we parked literally 500 ft. from the start/finish line.  How’s that for convenient?