Volunteering!

Had a great experience this week - I volunteered at a race for the first time!

This one was the Energizer Night Race, held at a beautiful park uptown. I was a course marshall at a spot before the turnaround for the 10K'ers - which means if you ran this race, you saw me at the 3.5K mark just after the water station, and again at the 6.5K mark.  

Very official course marker - my home for the next couple of hours

I've really appreciated the volunteers on every race I've run, from the ones keeping things moving at the checkin, to the ones passing out food and drinks after the finish, and everyone in between. I definitely appreciate the boost of energy I get from the ones cheering along the route. I always find myself  flashing them a grateful smile or thumbs up as I pass.

I've heard it said that good race etiquette includes sitting out one a race a year and take a turn volunteering - and it was definitely time for me to take my turn.  

Stylin' in my new headlamp

I had no idea how much fun this would be! The air was charged with pre-race excitement, it was thrilling to see the first runners approach (they were SO FAST!), and I had a ton of fun cheering, clapping and encouraging people on. What I didn't expect was that so very many people would flash me a smile, give me a thumbs up, thank me - I even got a few "bless you for being here"s. That was incredibly gratifying.

Even more fun - this being a night race, everyone was issued headlamps - and there's nothing like the sight of 900 LED lights bouncing along in the dark past you on their way out, and again on their way back in. Almost like Christmas!

Here they come!

I'm so glad that I volunteered for this one - it really was a great experience. I'll definitely do this again in 2012!

Have you ever volunteered at a race? What was your race like?

Here's this week's recap -

This was our second week back at school and we are still adjusting to getting back into our routines - but also figuring out how to best adapt them to accommodate Stella. For me - I walked her a minimum of 2K each day, went to the gym twice and danced myself into a sweaty puddle at Zumba.

On Friday evening, we stumbled upon a street festival while running errands a few neighbourhoods away. Kids had a great time on the rides and jumping around in a bouncy castle, and Stella behaved herself beautifully waiting for them and in the crowds. Lovely way to spend a beautiful late summer evening :-)