Miss Course Marshall

I have taken to the sidelines twice this month during a race. The first time was when I volunteered as a course marshall at a 5K, and the second was when I cheered on a friend during his first triathlon.

 

Call Me Course Marshall

Over Labor Day weekend my running group the Rock Runners were coordinating volunteers for the Philip Rivers 5K which would take place in Liberty Station in San Diego. I had never volunteered for a race before since I've always wanted to run the race, not watch it - but in the past few years I've stopped running 5K's due to the cost and time involved in getting to and from the race. Paying $30 to run 3 miles (which I can do any day) and to spend twice as much time getting to and leaving the race just doesn't seem worth it to me anymore. I'd much rather race 10K+ distances.

Rock Runners - Racers & Volunteers

(I'm second from the right.)

My running group has been such great support for me over the past few months and I really wanted to take some time to give back to the group, or an organization that they were supporting. I was assigned to the Course Marshall team under my friend Stacey's management, which to me sounded like a really fun job! That's MIZZ Course Marshall to you! :o)

Official Orange Plastic Vest

 

An Unfortunate Choice

The course for the race looped around a large grassy area twice. Course marshalls were placed at all of the turns around the course to help guide runners and walkers in the right direction. I decided to choose the last turn before the finish line. What a great place to watch the race right? WRONG! Being at the last turn meant that I was on the course until the very last person ran by. I have no idea how it could take so long, but the last walker went by around 1:45. How could people walk that slowly?! Did  they stop for breakfast somewhere along the way? I thought I'd be out there for one hour max. :oP

Over the years that I've raced I've seen  marshalls on the course shouting directions, but never thought about what it would be like to stand in the same location and shout the same direction over and over again. I felt kind of stupid for some reason standing by myself and shouting "Stay to the left!" and "First lap to the right, finish to the left!" and "Finishers to the left!" over and over again for almost two hours. I had another person come by at some point and stand across from me yelling "Watch the curb!"  in between my "Stay to the left!"  My plastic orange vest did make me feel quite official, but the repetitive yelling really got old.

 

Who's that running by?

I enjoyed watching the race and wondering if I'd see someone I knew run by. About 20 minutes into the race guess who I saw? One of my Girls on the Run going by with her mom! I yelled out her name and she looked at me in confusion, but her mom recognized me and yelled out a hello before running by. On the second lap I was looking for her and shouted out her name in encouragement. This drew a look of confusion yet again. Oh well, I tried.

 

Rock Runners for the Win

I stuck around after the end of the race to watch the awards ceremony. It was exciting to see that there were several runners from the Rock group up there on the podium! A Rock Runner won first male overall and first female overall, and a couple others placed in their age group as well. Aren't we a fast team!

Rock Runners at the Awards Ceremony

(I'm second from the right again.)

 

Aside from being stuck at the end for so long I enjoyed volunteering at the race, and I'd definitely do it again. Next time I'm going to pick my location more strategically though!