Monday, August 16, 2010

Rush Hour

Hubs and I volunteered again for the America's Finest City Half Marathon water and electrolyte station #1. I brought my camera, but only two pictures turned out as they were supposed to. All the other still shots were videos -- All but one video turned out odd. A still shot doesn't translate well on video. Everyone is just standing there, posing, with background noise.

We trekked to Point Loma, right near mile 4 of the half marathon course, helped to set up water and electrolyte tables and waited for the masses to run through. I was able to catch up with some of my friends who did not run in the summer program.

Patricia, Jesu, Michelle, Me.  It's August and we're wearing jackets and long sleeves!

We were set up, and then we waited...

Hubs waiting for the hoards of runners.

One of the main sponsors of this event set out a sound system and had some pumping tunes for us as well as the runners. I still have "Humpty Dance" in my head.

It wasn't long until the front runners ran by so effortlessly and gazelle like. Seriously. Poetry in motion. None of these runners took water or electrolyte drinks. Then the mayhem began. Hoards of runners began running through and soon water and electrolyte drinks were everywhere, but our group of volunteers kept on top of it. Before we knew it, the hoards were through, and the back of the packers trickled in, then the lag wagon and police. Rush hour was over, the clean-up went like clockwork, and we were finished.

Hubs and I went through a fast food place for breakfast foods and coffee, then drove over to Balboa Park to the finish line to look for friends. Here's the only video that made sense, although it's only a few seconds long:


That's Rich in yellow running in for the finish, and Hubs and I yelling in the background.

Thank goodness for Anne. Not only did she set up the track club tent for the end of the race, she took some wonderful post-race pictures which you can check out HERE.

Many of my friends ran PRs, and I believe that their diligent training and cooler than normal weather helped. The skies were overcast, a little misty, and the temperatures were in the low 60s.

I really don't have any cute anecdotes or weirdness to report on, maybe because I was half asleep due to the early wake up to make it out to our volunteering destination before the streets closed.  Hubs and I weren't firing on all cylinders until well after we had coffee.  The only thing that comes to mind is we heard a couple asking the bus people  if there were shuttles back to the San Diego Zoo parking lot (where many people parked), which is probably a half mile (or less) walk through the park  from the finish line.  Really?  They didn't seem injured.

I didn't have any odd feelings about not running in the AFC half marathon, maybe because I knew I wasn't really ready for it.  I did have fun volunteering with friends and watching everyone else run through -- and that was enough.




Friday's Song:
Show Me What I'm Looking For - Carolina Liar

Peace

8 comments:

Jill said...

That's awesome you volunteered for the race - those are always so much fun and a great way to give back to the sport you love so much! Next year you'll be back to race it :).

misszippy said...

Great way to look at it. I think volunteering is so much fun--a front row seat to watch the sport you love. Great job!

Maryland Girl aka Michelle said...

Very fun. I am volunteering this weekend for my tri club at a women's only tri event and then I am volunteering that the Nation's Tri in September. I am sure I will wish I was racing, but I think it will be fun to volunteer.

Unknown said...

It's fun, huh? I can relate to mayhem. We had mayhem for a few minutes (it seemed longer at the time). But it sounds like a great experience for you as well.

We had our camera accidentally set to video at one event a few years ago. Frustrating!

Aka Alice said...

LOL about the camera...I do that ALL the time.

I had every intention of volunteering w/you this year, but ended up sleeping instead. By the time I woke up, the race was over. I suck :-)

But it was a good sleep. Next time, I promise!

Andrew Opala said...

Great action shots ... I think I might want to volunteer after this post. This looks really cool!

Anne said...

Great to hang out with you very briefly after the race. And kudos to you and Michael for helping out that morning. Yeah, I was freezing too.

Glenn Jones said...

Thanks for volunteering! And I know all too well that feeling of not being ready all too well.