It was awesome! It was an incredibly long day but I can't wait to volunteer again. We got down to the race at 4:30 in the morning, about a half hour before the transition area opened. It was still dark as they led those of us who came early to our posts for the day. I hated getting out of bed at that crazy hour but it was totally worth it because we got really cool jobs! We were working on the course at the end of the bike leg where the athletes had to dismount their bikes to get back into the transition area. At first there were three of us at this spot. Me, my sister and this other guy who had also never worked at a triathlon.
Our job was to do a few things:
- Keep the crosswalks & streets clear so spectators didn't get in the way of the athletes running their bikes into transition
- Warn them to slow down and dismount their bikes by a certain line marked on the course. If they weren't off the bike by that point they could face a 4:00 penalty!
We really had no idea how to effectively perform these duties but by the end of the day, and with a little help from a USA Triathlon marshall, we got the hang of it. Mostly it meant we had to wave orange flags around while screaming variations of "OFF THE BIKE" and "DISMOUNT LINE! DISMOUNT LINE" over and over again for about 3 hours. Luckily as the day progressed we got more and more helpers so the job got less overwhelming.
The bottom line was that we were in a pretty chaotic spot, filled with action. I mean, they were hopping off their bikes mere inches from me. One poor guy crashed and got buried under his bike right there at my feet. It was nuts. Plus, watching what they do -- yanking their feet out of their clips and slowing the bike down with bare feet or running in their bare feet. It's painful just watching it! They're a little bit crazy, no question about it.
This was probably where the most spectators were besides the finish area, and it was noisy and busy and just completely awesome! We got to see every person go by and when the last guy came through on his bike we took off and watched them on the run course. The day was hot -- especially on the run where the last few miles were in full sun -- so these folks were beat and it was fun trying to give them even a tiny boost to help them get to the finish line. I can't even imagine how they must have felt. We were tired and sore and stiff from standing and yelling for eight hours so I can't imagine how drained they must have been at this point in the day.
I've been combing the internet to see reactions to the race and I haven't seen anything negative yet! Everybody seemed to love the course and they found it to be well run. I suppose all the other volunteers figured out how to do their jobs by the end of the day just like we did.
One other exciting thing was spotting (and briefly talking to) Clinton from TLC's "What Not to Wear"! I have to say, he was not impeccably dressed like he is on TV. I don't think that he would have survived a session in the 3-way mirror in the getup he had on.
Other fun notes:
I spotted an old co-worker who was watching his friends in the race. I haven't seen him in 10 years so it was fun to catch up with him.
I recognized one of the athletes as a kid I went to high school with and haven't seen in nearly 20 years. I had a clue about him because his last name was printed on his T-shirt but I still didn't make the connection until he smiled at us clapping on the sideline and his face transformed right back to the 13 year old I used to know.
We also spotted the woman we met at the MORE marathon and cheered her into the finish area. She's pretty amazing and we remembered that she was worried about making the cutoff but she did it. She couldn't believe that we remembered her and kept an eye out for her in the race.
The whole day was just really fun. Almost as much fun as being in a race myself!
I also observed that to a person, the triathletes were very nice. The ones we talked to were all pleasant, had great things to say about the race, and were very grateful to us for being volunteers. Plus there were a few folks who hung around to watch & cheer along the final finishers and I thought that was great too.
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