Volunteering at the KC Marathon

Had a blast volunteering at the KC Marathon yesterday!

Worked as a course monitor which involved keeping traffic off the course so participants had a safe race.   We worked at the intersections KCPD didn't have officers to work at.  Generally officers will work the busier intersections and volunteers will monitor the less busy intersections.  Officers did check in with us periodically and we knew if we had a problem there was help a short distance away.

I was assigned the intersection at 17th and Main.  For the most part people were cooperative.  During one point in the race I had to cross the street and cut through a large group of runners to keep a guy from plowing on to Main Street.  He was a jerk but once I explained to him how he could get around the race and to his destination he calmed down.   It was a hair raising moment for a minute though as he had edged his way on to Main Street just a bit.  I got him turned around before it became an issue though.

After my intersection was clear and we were released by KCPD, I headed to the finish line to cheer for some friends.  Walked down to the corner right before the finish.  There were no volunteers there so a race official asked if I would help direct marathon runners to the right so they went in to the correct chute.  I didn't mind helping out since it still gave me an opportunity to see and cheer for friends.  When the kids run started I ended doing some crowd control so the kids and their parents didn't run in to the marathon runners.   Not sure why they had the kids run parallel to the marathon course but it wasn't the brightest idea.  The kids got out of their lane and in the marathoners way too many times.  Runners in the marathon were not happy and I can't say I blame them.  Could have caused some injuries.  Note to race organizers - if the kids run is going to run parallel to the marathon course have a barrier or many volunteers there so the kids can't cut in front of the marathon runners. Other than the kids run, I thought the race was pretty well run.

Got to say there's nothing quite like a thousand or more "thank yous" on a Saturday morning!  The runners were great!  Especially when I was dealing with the jerk who edged on to Main Street.  Got quite a few thank yous and claps for getting him turned around. 

I have to admit, I volunteered for purely selfish reasons... to get my motivation back to run!  It worked!  Got a nice easy 3 miles in yesterday and heading out soon for another easy run.  Not sure I'll run any more races this year but I will likely volunteer at one or 2 more before winter takes over.