2009 World Duathlon Championship – Volunteer Experience

When I volunteered to help out at the Duathlon Championship, I had no idea what surprises awaited me.

The registration process was rather straight forward. Volunteers could go to a specific URL and sign up to help out during a specific period of time and for a specific task.

Friday afternoon, an email arrived with instructions where to go for the volunteer check-in which sounded simple enough.

So Saturday afternoon, I went out early, parked outside the track, and walked the mile or so the volunteer check-in.

The entire process consisted of me signing a waiver and being directed to specific person for an assignment.

From there, I smiled a lot and directed 99% athletes 2 one of places: the restroom or the baggage check.

The other 1% questions were like the following:

1. Can I pay for my tire here?
   
2. Do you have any safety pins?
   
3. How should I mount the bike on the rack?
   
4. I accidently ran/road over the chip map what does that mean?
   
5. Do you have any extra water bottles?
   
6. Is there any water available to put in my water bottle?
   
7. I can get a mechanic to look at my bike?
   
8. I need to get a shot of cortisone. Can help with it?
   
9. Where can I get body marked?
   

And there were just some of the questions from the athletes that I could understand. There were a whole another set of questions from the athletes that didn't speak English which I couldn't help.

Once the racing started, my new assignment was guarding 3 trash cans. Well, I call it guarding because I was to prevent people from using the opening in the fence. While it doesn't rank up there with guarding the president, it gave me a great vantage point to watch a lot of the race.

And, fortunately my guarding of the trash cans was uneventful. Everyone was very nice and maybe being met with a smile had something to do with it.

All in all, it was a fun experience. Although, it does give me a new found respect for volunteers, volunteers are just that - volunteers. As a racer, we sometime take for granted that volunteers know more than we do – even though they may not.

In my case, I felt kind of like I was thrown into the deep in the pool. But that is usually what happens with my day job so I did what I do with it. I listened and learned quickly while making a mental note of the answer to each question. Most likely, you will be asked that same question again and then you will have that answer.

On a side note, it was great watching Chris, Cody and Kelly. I marveled at how easily they shifted from running to biking and back to running. All the while, they made it look so effortlessly and in the pouring rain. Definitely, the time they invested in their training paid off.

Then, there were the other athletes. Looking at their faces and watching how the bodies worked.

Some athletes were pushing through the pain while others struggled to make the bodies go on. Sometimes they tried stretching the cramping muscles. Sometime, they slowed to walk. Some even came in bandaged and bloodied because they crossed the line where skill and ability get exceeded.

But watching many of them as they neared the finish line, they were all smiles. Many carried flags from their home countries. All seemed to have had a great time.

Somehow, despite the pain and rough conditions I suspect they will all take some fond memory of their experience at Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, NC.

Thoughts from the pits.