Volunteering at races

Do it!  It's a great way to be around triathlon while you're training for other races. The higher the significance of the race, the better. But you really can't go wrong. Sure, it will be a long day, but you'll manage to make it through on the excitement and adrenalin of all of the athletes around you.

And, if you're lucky, you'll play a small role in the victory of an elite athlete. Whether it's pointing on the course, handing out water, clearing the course when they approach, or something else, you can have an effect.

It was the day of Timberman.  An Ironman 70.3 race in the Lakes region of New Hampshire.  The swim took place in Lake Winnipesaukee, and the bike and run took place in and around the town of Gilford.

Volunteering day started at 4:15am, since the race started at 7am, and I was 2 hours away, according to Google. After a quick few minutes waking up, I was out the door and on my way. I got to the remote parking lot around 6:20. Enough time to get on the shuttle and run down to make it for the swim start.

This race was enormous: 2741 athletes. It was so big and had so many waves that even as the Pros started in the water, some of the other athletes were calm and relaxed, well over 200 yards away, just hanging out around the transition area.

After all, they had well over an hour before they would even start, so why bother getting nervous?  Even though the swim is 1.2 miles, the pros don't leave you much time to wander around and check out the area. Case in point: Andy Potts was finished in under 23 minutes. By the time he reached swim exit (only after doing some dolphin strokes for the last few yards), he was 2 buoys ahead of the 2nd place competitor.

He dominated the swim, and ran off quickly to get on his bike. He was off riding the bike course before the 2nd guy was even out of the water.  A few more pro men came through the swim exit, but it wasn't long before Chrissie Wellington was on shore, peeling her wetsuit off.

She had a pretty commanding lead of the rest of the wave of pro women, and she didn't give them a chance to catch up on the way to the bike. She flew into transition, and was out in no time.

It's pretty crazy to consider that Potts and Wellington completed their 2+ hour bike portion without any competition breathing down their neck. It was a single loop, so there was no path crossing of their opponents, as would have been the case for an out-and-back. Sure, they've got people telling them how far ahead they are of the competition, but that's certainly different than having someone there with you, side-by-side, pushing you every step of the way.

Maybe the uncertainty, the solitude, is more of a motivator. Without knowing where they are, I guess Andy and Chrissie can only assume, "They're catching me. They're going faster than I am, because they want to catch up." And so no matter how fast they go, they can only figure that they're slowly being gained upon. That can be dangerous, since it might push a less-focused athlete too hard, causing them to falter on the run. But I imagine that Andy and Chrissie are able to couple their fear of being caught with their confidence in their abilities, allowing them to push themselves hard enough to keep a lead, but not so hard that they end up bonking.

Potts was first off the bike, and just bolted out on the run. He didn't take water at the first aid station, but just pushed through, on his way to a 1:16:00 half-marathon. Most, if not all, of the Pro men just blazed by the first aid station, not taking water. I think the initial part of the run is for them to focus on getting into stride, and really getting into the run. Stopping for water, if not absolutely necessary, is probably a hindrance.

Well, now I'll contradict myself, because Chrissie grabbed water coming off the bike. And you can't argue with Chrissie's choices, since she won the women's division, and detroyed plenty of men in the process. I guess it really just comes down to personal choice. So she grabbed some water. Or rather, she grabbed Gatorade, took one look at it and saw the nuclear yellow hue, and tossed it out. She wanted water, and only water. It wasn't just on a whim that she decided she wanted a drink. She knew exactly what she wanted; what she needed.

I continued handing out water to parched athletes.  The fellow volunteers and I tried to devise the perfect plan for handing out water and Gatorade.  Water on the left and Gatorade on the right.   No!  Water at the start of the aid station, and Gatorade at the end of it.  No!  Just call out loudly whatever drink you're holding.  What about the oranges? and the coke?  Where do we put them?  Obviously, we had plenty of time to think.

Finally, one of the girls had a brilliant idea to make signs that we could wear to identify what types of drinks we had.  I gladly donned the "Water" sign, and she wore the "Gatorade" sign.  Turns out, though, athletes don't like to take a few seconds to read while they're running.  I should've figured as much.  I certainly don't pay attention to signs when I'm competing.  So the rest of the day consisted of me wearing the sign, but still yelling "Water!" as people ran by.  Sometimes I yelled "Vodka!" or "Beer!", when I thought someone needed a pick-me-up.

About 30 minutes into my duties I realized that every athlete's bib, in addition to their number, had their first name printed on it.  I quickly took it upon myself to be friends with everyone, and yell their name as they ran by, to give a little more motivation.  Not sure if people were a startled by it, but I like to think it helped shave a few seconds off their times.

Did I mention that the run course was a 2 loops? Yep.  That meant that the pros would be circling around, and I'd have the opportunity to hand out water to them again.  A stupid thing to get excited about, but hey, I'm easily pleased.

I can't remember if Andy grabbed water the 2nd time around.  I think he did.  And he was still cruising, putting more time between him and the competition.  After a few more men passed by, Chrissie came into our sights.  She was really moving (and making a lot of guys look bad).  I figured that she didn't want Gatorade, since she tossed it the first time, so I grabbed some water and held it out.  She grabbed it, and flew away.  It's funny how different it is to hand water to a pro as opposed to a slower athlete.  The pros are moving at such a fast pace that the grabbing of the water is such an abrupt movement.  It's not graceful, as much as you try to lead them.

After providing liquids to many, many athletes I took a break and checked out the rest of the area.  I was close to the finish line, so I watched people cross for a while.  Totally inspiring.  And wait, who's that still at the finish line, handing out medals to people?  Well, it's Chrissie Wellington.  Wow.  After winning Timberman in dominating fashion, Chrissie still had the energy to stand at the finish line and congratulate people as they crossed.  What a class act.

I watched just about everybody cross that finish line.  It seemed that as the clock continued to tick, the finishes became more and more emotional.  These were people that were fighting to get to that finish line.  They had been on the course for 7+ hours, and were so close that they couldn't help but be completely elated when they crossed.

I stuck around for the awards ceremony, and then decided to hit the road.  Only problem was that in between me and my car was a 15 minute shuttle ride, which, at this point, 300+ people also needed to take.  So the waiting in line began.  Fortunately, I was able to chat with a fellow line-waiter, who happened to be one of the race photographers for the day.  He was a triathlete who worked as a freelance photographer.  He was pretty excited to be able to photograph all day at Timberman.  He even managed to get a shot with Chrissie and Andy (though I don't think he'll need to purchase that one through his company's website)

Soon enough, we were on the cramped school bus, waiting to get back to our cars.  We arrived shortly afterwards, and I began my journey home.  Another 2 hours in the car.

I was exhausted by the time I got home, but it was one of my best triathlon experiences.  And I didn't even race!