My good friend Kelsey and I weren't able to participate in Hood to Coast this weekend so we volunteered for our team early on Thursday morning. And by early I mean EARLY. Kelsey rolled up to my apartment to pick me up BEFORE the crack of dawn. Like 3am. We got up to the mountain at 4:30 to start our volunteer shift. The car ride was a delirious blur of laughing out of being so ridiculously tired and not sure what we were about to get ourselves into. We told stupid jokes and laughed at stuff that was not even funny. I absolutely love that we got to experience this race from another angle----we were up that early not to begin a 3 leg race of 15+ miles over 24 hours, but to ensure that everyone else could do that. Since I've run this race the last two years, it felt good to put on the ugly orange "Race Official" t-shirt and help make sure everything went smoothly.
Overall volunteering was a piece of cake----we sat at the sign-in registration tables and had people turn in their safety agreements. We reminded them to not stop their vans on Legs 1 & 2 and to follow the speed limit and not drink alcohol. Once in a while I thought I was so funny and I'd remind the teams that no running was allowed. Some people just nodded their heads when I said that! Some people laughed.....but most were so excited to start the race they barely even listened to us, their huge smiles and enthusiasm making me drip with jealousy.
I think the toughest part about volunteering doesn't have anything to do with getting up in the middle of the night and sacrificing your time, having to use a porta potty or not having access to coffee. It's the feeling of not being able to run the race! As we were up there we saw teams start the race every half hour. Every.Single.Time: I wished it was me. I desperately wanted to participate in the race, sit in a van for hours and hours with your teammates that you may or may not know, stay up for 24 hours straight, eat squished peanut butter sandwiches, rice cakes and chocolate. I wanted to run 3 legs, one of them in the pitch black middle of the night. I wanted to cheer my team on and have dance parties on the side of the road and party on the beach in Seaside when it was all over. But, this year I did not get to do that. I had several commitments this weekend and an injured posterior tibialis. But next year? You bet I'll be back on my team, running my heart out.
Overall volunteering was a piece of cake----we sat at the sign-in registration tables and had people turn in their safety agreements. We reminded them to not stop their vans on Legs 1 & 2 and to follow the speed limit and not drink alcohol. Once in a while I thought I was so funny and I'd remind the teams that no running was allowed. Some people just nodded their heads when I said that! Some people laughed.....but most were so excited to start the race they barely even listened to us, their huge smiles and enthusiasm making me drip with jealousy.
I think the toughest part about volunteering doesn't have anything to do with getting up in the middle of the night and sacrificing your time, having to use a porta potty or not having access to coffee. It's the feeling of not being able to run the race! As we were up there we saw teams start the race every half hour. Every.Single.Time: I wished it was me. I desperately wanted to participate in the race, sit in a van for hours and hours with your teammates that you may or may not know, stay up for 24 hours straight, eat squished peanut butter sandwiches, rice cakes and chocolate. I wanted to run 3 legs, one of them in the pitch black middle of the night. I wanted to cheer my team on and have dance parties on the side of the road and party on the beach in Seaside when it was all over. But, this year I did not get to do that. I had several commitments this weekend and an injured posterior tibialis. But next year? You bet I'll be back on my team, running my heart out.
