Giving Back

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to volunteer at a 5K trail race put on by, Heather, one of our fellow runners from A Runner's Circle. It was the first time her company, Green Running Events, put on a race. I arrived early and met up with Melissa and worked with Dino on getting the start and finish lines signs hung up. Heather asked us to work the finish line and go talk to the people doing the timekeeping to see what they wanted us to do. We were asked to pull the tags off of everyone's bib as they crossed the finish line and put them on a string in order. OK, easy enough.

After a few announcements and the National Anthem, the race started. We took our places behind the finish line and waited for the first runner to come in.

Waiting for the first runner to cross the finish line.

 The first runner crossed the line in the 16-17 minute range and we got started pulling the tags off the bibs and keeping them in order. I was an easy task, but as more and more runners crossed the line, it took lots of concentration to keep the runners in order and grab the tags. I'm glad there were two of us working the finish line.

The youngest runner of the day.

After about an hour, the last 3 runners/walkers came in and a few minutes later, the awards ceremony started. Very cool medals (see below) were given three deep in all age groups.

Medals made from recycled bike parts.

After the awards, we cleaned up and about 15 of us headed off for breakfast. I had a lot of fun working the race and I was really glad I was able to give back to the running community. Look for this race next year to be even bigger and better.

Pictures from the event can be found here MAK Photography
and
A Runner's Circle