A different sort of Rock n' Roll

For the past 3 years, I have run the Seattle Rock n' Roll 1/2 marathon.  Each year my times have improved and I (sort of) looked forward to the race.  Training for it gave me a very specific goal.  The course itself is beautiful.  It starts off in some beautiful older neighborhoods, winds along the beautiful Lake Washington, and ends near the sports arenas of Seattle.  This year, however, I was not able to run.  I have a heel spur, or something.  (I self-diagnosed with the help of web.md)  Even walking hurts, so I wisely decided that running for 13.1 miles would not be helpful.  So instead, I was a volunteer.  I chose a time that would let me do my work, and finish so I could cheer on my friends and family that were running.  

4:30 is early people!

 

Here is the start line before the 22,000 runners showed up.  

My first job was helping hand our t-shirts and goody bags to other volunteers.  After that, I headed over to the start corrals and held signs that marked the corral times.  Once the race actually started, I made my way to the finish line and started unwrapping the finisher medals.  22,000 of these. 

Well, I didn't unwrap all of them myself.  But man, that is a lot of heavy metal!  Each one was individually wrapped in plastic and a small cardboard box.   While I was unwrapping medals, a woman from Competitor.com asked if I wanted to record times of finishers.  Basically, I stood feet away from the finish line and as a runner came in, I entered their bib number in a calculator-looking device, and as soon as they crossed the finish line, pressed enter.  It was a way to double check the accuracy of the timing chips.  It was a fascinating way to watch the race.  Being so far back in the pack in years past, I never saw any of the elite runners.  Ever.  And this year I got to see each of the top finishers, for both the half and full marathons finish.  These are some serious runners, people.  The guy that won the half-marathon basically sprinted the whole way - he was running near 5-minute miles!  I was able to see my friend Amy finish.  That was pretty cool.  After my hand cramped from holding the calculator, I moved to passing out medals to the finishers.  That was probably the best part of the day.  It was great to see all the different expressions of the runners: relief, disbelief, joy, pain, but a lot of happiness.  I really enjoyed volunteering.   I may do it again sometime!   - April