I never mentioned this but last Saturday I volunteered at the National Marathon. I worked one of the water stations. I had so much fun!!! Seriously, tons of fun!! The only thing that sucked was it was about 20 degrees outside and I had no gloves…my poor fingers were frozen when I was trying to fill cups with Powerade. But I still had loads of fun!
It was so awesome to give back to the running community, especially with all the races I have planned. I just had a blast cheering everyone on and getting to see all types of athletes…the lead marathoner who was amazing, the everyday people aiming for a new PR, and then people who were just having fun. I really can’t describe how much fun it was!! The timing was very serendipitous as well…I volunteered for the marathon on Saturday and then on Monday started my racing season training. I was all pumped about starting my training after seeing the marathon on Saturday.
We did run out of cups (when we still had about ½ of the runners to come through our station) so we just put out the water jugs and people drank directly from them. What else can you do? If they’re thirsty enough, they’ll drink out of the jug. But it did remind me when I’m doing my races to not depend on the water stations for water or Gatorade…sometimes they run out (which I learned first hand in December at the Las Vegas half). Plus if I have my own, I can avoid the bottlenecks near the water stations.
Total sidenote—I just noticed my desk is uneven. The top has a gradual downward slope from right to left. It’s not a huge slope but it is slightly uneven. And I kept thinking I was tilting my head funny…must be me trying to keep the computer screen even in my head.
I started reading a book, “The Perfect Mile,” that chronicles three runners trying to post a sub 4 minute mile in 1952. It is so interesting. I highly recommend it to any of you that like reading and running (granted, I’m only 70 pages in but it’s very inspirational).
Hmmm…do you think I like to run? I read books about running, volunteer at marathons, watch DVD documentaries on running (“Spirit of the Marathon” being my top recommendation), wake up crazy early to run, get excited when others talk about being excited about running (seriously, I read Lynn’s post about how she’s thinking of doing a half marathon and got so excited my heart started beating fast). Totally and hopelessly addicted.
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4 comments:
I'm signed up to do a half at the end of May, but since my fall, my knee is still hurting and I still haven't run. All of this to say that I was thinking of e-mailing the organizers to say that I would volunteer for the run instead (they are looking for 1,000 volunteers). Your post made it sound like fun...I might have to give it more thought...
I wish I had your addiction! I admire runners, but never seem to be able to run myself without injury. Sigh.
I volunteered at a 1/2 Iron Man last year and had a similarily awe-inspiring experience. It's a lot of fun to be a part of someones experience and to give back to the community that supports you.
I'm going to run away (via google) not and see if my local library has that book. I miss my running shoes desperately, its been nearly 3 months.
not a bad addiction!!
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