volunteering at events

hkulbacki

Not a marathoner, or even a runner? How about volunteering at local races for some inspiration and motivation? It's especially inspiring to see people who have just started on their weight loss journey out there running (or even walking) their first 5K.

I've volunteered to coordinate other volunteers at my local marathon for two years now, this year volunteering at the expo on Friday, resting on Saturday, and running the full marathon on Sunday. My first marathon experience was passing out water at the finish line. What an awesome experience to have someone who just ran 26.2 miles say to me 'hey, thanks for volunteering.' I was floored, they were the ones who just ran a seemingly impossible distance, all I've done is stand here holding a cup of water! Another woman came up to me all excited and said 'I have to tell someone, I just qualified for Boston.' It was great to be there and to be a part of her victory.

Now, as a marathoner myself... I can tell you, the volunteers at each water station are a wonderful sight to see and each race, even the 5Ks, needs lots and lots of you to pull it off. Not only at water stations on race day, but all weekend long for a longer race.

So get out there and volunteer for just a few hours, take your kids along. In my area we have a few races each year where the profits from the race are donated to the groups of volunteers that come out to help, so get your kid's boy/girl scout troups, track teams, cheerleading squads, whatever to staff a water station during the race.

scott091501

Volunteer at an Ironman event around midnight. The people busting their *kitten* to make the deadline are very inspiring