Volunteering is almost always a good thing. At work, we've invented a word, "voluntold". As in "I was voluntold to lead this project" HAHA! Even under those circumstances, it's not a bad thing. On this fine Sunday morning, I willingly hauled my ass out of bed at 4:15am and was on the road by 5. I had volunteered for the Smithpoint Triathlon and call time was 6! This is the tri that my buddy and I are "going to kill" next year and as always, I needed to suss it out. Bonus: I get to participate for free next year! Working a race gave me a completely different perspective. All the "Staff" were unpaid help, like myself. It takes a lot of hands and organization to make a race happen. My compliments to the Event Power team, they run a tight ship. There are a few "Captains", I think they are volunteers that work these all the time. The whole thing ran like a well oiled machine. I was suppose to help with the run clean up but due to a fortunate turn of events, I ended up working Bike Out, Run Out and Bike Bouncer. Bike Out - is the location the athletes mount their rides for the bike portion after the swim. Run Out - is, obviously, where the run starts. This is usually right next to Bike Out so a lot of confusion ensues. Bike Bouncer - after it's all over and the athletes pick up their gear, we have to make sure they take the right bikes! There's plain confusion but also the occasional theft prevention. After all, some of these are $10k racing monsters. Cervelos, Cannondales, Specialized, Quintana Roos...you get the drift. I was very busy! Our job at Bike Out is to make sure the athletes mount their ride at the correct location. Too soon and, you got it, crash. Run Out was easier, just had to point them the right way. Bike Bouncer was a little awkward, I had to stop a young man wheeling out his gf's bike, she was in the bathroom hahaha! I apologized profusely. Wearing a t-shirt that says "Staff" is a blessing and a curse. Everyone expects you to have all the answers, I have very few. I was able to talk a very worried mom off the ledge a little, her daughter took a long time on the ride and she was freaking. I was also asked to hold a dude's bike. He tells me "I don't care about the time, I gotta go to the bathroom!" I saw a fellow volunteer loan her shoes to an athlete whose shoes were unaccessible (I never got the full story). She spent the rest of the race in her socks and promptly took a sockfie! He had to run in strange shoes a size too small. No complains. Did I mention he's 65? I saw people fall, swollen bleeding elbows and heard someone was carted off by EMT. No one, and I mean NO ONE, quit (except for the person carted off). At the same time, those nursing injuries did relays instead of the full monty. Everyone helped and supported each other. And to see that, for me, was worth getting up at 4:15am on a Sunday for!
