iVolunteer

Last Sunday, the 30th of September, I went to join hundreds of volunteers for the Maine Marathon. It was my second volunteering stint [B2B was my 1st] and my 1st for Maine Marathon. It was an awesome experience despite the weather.

I left the house at 5:20am. It was not raining yet when I left and reached Portland a couple of minutes before six. It didn't take long for me to find Julie Scala, the lady in-charged of the Food Tent where I was assigned.

As soon as I saw here she checked my name from the list and handed me my t-shirt, towel [both with Maine Marathon prints on them] and are you ready for this? Sea Dogs ticket!

After we set up the table we waiting for few minutes for the food to arrive. As soon as the food supplies were unloaded, we started chopping, slicing, unwrapping and preparing them. I have never sliced hundreds of oranges in my life until that soggy morning. It was fun!

About 30 minutes before the race starts, runners started gathering in front of the food tent.

I was overwhelmed at the sight of them and a little jealous I guess. Well, it's a "marathon", I don't do marathon. I'm a 5k lady. I was already happy to be a part of this event and one of the 400 volunteers who made the event successful.

I only volunteered for 3 hours [6am to 9am] so that I can take photos of the race. However, I did get the chance to snap some photos before the race start and was so happy to see all these things happening before my eyes.

It was then, that the rain started to pour steadily. I wanted to take more photos but I am afraid that the rain might ruin my camera.

 Taking it all in.

 The Big Bang!

 Here they come!

 The stampede.

 The Lady in rainbow Tutu.

 The Riot in the Cellar guys.

 The moose guy.

As soon as I know I had taken enough photos of the event.

I left hoping that next year I will be able to volunteer again. But deep inside me, I know I am secretly wishing that - one day, I will run the race! wink*

Everybody's a Winner

It was huge. It was spectacular. It was epic. That is how I describe the 14th TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race held at Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

I car pooled with another volunteer I met during the Volunteer Appreciation Party last Tuesday. We left Standish early to avoid traffic. We reached Fort William around 6:30am and the parking lots were already piling up with cars. Well, we don't expect to see a lot of people there because the race will start 10 kilometers away from the Portland Head Light. This is where the Finish Line is. So the huge crown was somewhere in Cape Elizabeth near Crescent Beach State Park on Route 77 where the race starts.

I volunteered for the Water Finish. It may seem an easy job but boy, the task did give my "biceps" a hardcore work out. We laid out 6000+ water bottles. Transferring boxes after boxes of those water bottles from the delivery truck to the tables was like doing hundreds of repetitions of biceps curl with 30-pound dumbbells.

Volunteering has it's perks and benefits. We have free t-shirts. Yey.

 Excellent spot to greet and meet the runners.

 Easy access to the porta-potties. hahaha

 And yes, a great vista of the famous landmark - the Portland Head Light.

Needless to say, the event is a 'runner's dream race', if you live in Maine. It is an important race if runners from 49 states participated in.I believe it is a very significant event when there are 6000 plus runners who signed up.

 [Photo Credit: TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race]

And it is indeed a highly-recognized event  if there are 11 countries represented in the event.

At the end of the race, we did recognize and acknowledge the winners - the oldest at 86...

the "wheel-chair bound" athletes,

the Elite runners,
the resident runners,

the just-for-fun runners,

the families,

 the supporters,

 the spectators...

 and of course, the volunteers.

At the end of the race - everybody's tired...

and yes, - everybody's a winner too!

If you can't join them... volunteer!

Right after I crossed the finish line during my very first 5k, I vowed that I will join another race. Yeah, right!

So I went straight home and searched the internet for another race. And there it was... the most prestigious race in all of Maine - the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10k Road Race. Seriously!

Okay, I may be too overwhelmed. Really! Crazy is more like it. But yeah. I signed up for it. It was a lottery so I was hopeful that I will win. Good thing I didn't! hahaha it was only after two days that I realized that running is not as easy as I imagined it to be. It takes a lot of practice, discipline and determination. And what I only got is just determination. hahaha

Anyway, I didn't get in so I was thinking there is another way to be a part of it. You see, this race is very significant and important to me because of several reasons.

1. It is prestigious. It will be covered by our local television network and it will mean I might be featured in TV. It doesn't matter if it said - One runner crawled all the way to the lighthouse.
2. The event is the biggest in all of Maine. Participants will sum up to about close to 7 thousand-ish. It means that spectators and supporters alike wouldn't even realize how slow I was because they would be too tired cheering and congratulating the first 6,999 finishers. LOL
3. The venue meant so much to me. The Portland Head Light is where I was married 4 years ago and I have never been there again since I said "I do". I want to visit it again in full sweat. LMAO

But, yes... none of those things I mentioned above will gonna happen because I didn't get it. So where did the "determination" part go? I volunteered!

Yes, I am part of the race... not a runner but a volunteer. This is my first time to volunteer so I am excited and nervous at the same time. And yesterday... I attended our Volunteer Appreciation Day and met some of the volunteers. Yes, I partied last night. There were lots of food, drink and music. It was an awesome event.

The race will be on Saturday, the 6th of August and I will be right there in the finish line handing cold water bottles to finishers. And yes... I will be there at the Portland Head Light - in full sweat.

 

 [That's the Portland Head Light from the distant. That's where the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10k Road Race will end. This was taken where we were having the Volunteer Party.]