Don't mess with the Marshal

I like to volunteer in November, racing is out as I'm usually a creaking gate by this time of year. 

I was stationed at km 11, which was also about km 17.5. A small part of the course on a road, there were 2 of us, and I pulled traffic duty. 

It was turning into quite a warm sunny day by the time 2nd and 3rd places came through. I think the lady on the left once overtook me on a leg of the Banff Ekiden. 

Simon came past, later saying he was having an off day.

In 3 hours there were less than 10 cars, so I mostly used my sign to point the way. 

Simon again, on his way to 'only' 1:28. 

Done by lunch. I wasn't very animated this time as there was another marshal with me. 

Pleasant and quiet, it really was "Last Chance" with snow arriving a few days later. 

Voluntarily Yours

The Mission

Better half out of town for the weekend, and time's going to pass glacially without her? Volunteer at a race..

I was there to man a drink station, though first I helped erect a giant sausage. After that I helped deliver van keys back to the start line that one of the staff had taken with him by mistake. After I parked in front of a nice house to take up my position, an odd interlude with the owner who hoped I wouldn't mind if my car got wet due to him watering his lawn. He's a voiceover artist by profession. That's a true digression. 

Background & prep

I ran MEC race #5 last year with my Dad when he and Mum visited. It had been the scene of my 5k PB until I kicked that over earlier this month.  

I asked for the 5k turnaround station, which also tripled as the 2.5 and 7.5k points for the 10k. 

I poured drinks in preparation. Depending on your point of view, it looked either like a champagne reception or busy drug testing lab. 

The course followed the riverbank, on something of a false flat, the second half being slightly upward.

Hair needed combing, in hindsight. 

Lights, camera 

I set up the gopro on time lapse, taking a photo every half second. It was positioned to capture every single runner, with the 5k-ers turning around right in front of it. 

I joined Jorge and Aaron manning the station. Jorge brought very nice Chilean sandwiches with him for some pre-race volunteer carb loading. Gracias! 

We did some strutting before all the runners came through. A time lapse video would be following later. Everyone is funny at 14x speed. 

The leaders came piling through. 

None of them wanted water or Nuun. Simon pictured above gliding through. 

Canuck bloggers were also racing, here's CowGirlRuns. 

Brunch is served

Handing over a cup to a mobile person takes a little getting used to. Don't grip too tight or too loose, and try to move with the runner just a little. 

One or two took extended breaks, the guy sitting down in a bit of pain. It got too busy to remember what happened to him, but I think he walked back ok. 

5k leaders came barreling down, and I pointed out the turnaround. Role reversal from last year (minus the being in the lead bit). 

The leading lady, whom I recognized as having overtaken me in the past, was close behind. 

Through came Rich, breaking his promise not to bother with a 5k again. 

Raf of ShutUpLegs fame followed, I somehow missed him despite the highly visible attire. 

A few more of the quicker 5k-ers came through before...

...we were then dealing with both sets of runners. There were a few tough moments when the 3 of us couldn't grab cups fast enough. 

Mr Modest Motivator

Once it was only 10k-ers, all was good. I noticed how breaking into a grin would get a big return smile. Also, rather than those two words ("almost there!"), I stuck to the facts: "one quarter distance to go!"  

The owner of Tri-It Multisport, just over the road, stopped to chat briefly while on her long run. So too did others who were training. All about the grass roots.

A few minutes later came the race's DFL.  I think of that as an honourable title. She was managing her race well on a run/walk. 

Course bikes/ medics brought it all to a close. Then I helped take it all down and pack. 

Reflections 

It's less sweaty than a race, but it's certainly non-stop action in places and a lot of thinking on your feet. I've been a course marshal before, and have been very animated doing it. This though is a flurry of activity and a real mission to keep a race going. Give it a try. 

Here's that whole hour and 10 minutes crunched into 4 minutes: https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=wootAr-yS-0

The Volunteer

I finally got around to volunteering at a race! Only took me 29 1/2 months from the time of my first race. It was fairly uneventful, though interesting to be a close-up spectator at local event. The Last Chance Half Marathon is one of the larger races in Calgary. Perhaps I call it one of the "Calgary Majors", i.e. more than 200 runners and therefore one that I could never win.

The winner was Jeremy Deere, below, who got the $500 1st place prize some 3 minutes ahead of the next guy. I'd love to do a half in 1 hour 12 minutes, but that is faster than my 5k pace.

Lisa Harvey, below, came in at 1:23, which is the same as my 5k pace!

After this it was a question of making sure everyone did the u-turn onto the bridge and finish around 400 metres away.

 My toes were getting cold just standing there, so after the first few had gone past so I did a few jumping jacks, running on the spot and small jumps. My post was at the crest of a rise, so I must have stood out quite well bouncing around. I noticed that when I was mobile like this, runners seemed to pick up a little speed, and certainly smiled more than when I was static. Interesting learning of some human psychology. I kept it up even when my toes weren't cold, pointed the way, clapped and smiled at one and all. I could've said that old cliche "almost there!" as it would've been true, but have found it annoying while racing myself, not to mention the number of times I've read others being annoyed by it too.  

Martin Parnell ran past, but I didn't realize it until he was halfway up the bridge ramp. I would've liked to have said "hi". For those who don't know, he ran 250 marathons last year. Above is the final finisher.

So a nice somewhat Stampede-style lunch, then home. It goes without saying that I prefer running in a race, though they are largely made by the volunteers who indulge those of us who are doing what we love. This also marks the beginning of building a stronger base for marathon training in 2012. Now to find/ design a training plan.