It's good to give back from time to time; running races don't just happen themselves. I try to volunteer for several local events each year. While I rarely feel put out by this, the deal offered to "volunteers" for this year's Roller Coaster Race at Six Flags St. Louis erased any chance of claiming altruistic points. In exchange for manning a 5K water stop, I got breakfast and park entry. That's a pretty sweet trade. Yaya's younger than the volunteer age limit but, as she's got more race support experience than many Race Directors, I have no qualms about bringing her along so we can enjoy the rides together. It helps that she looks a lot older than she is. I don't have to lie because nobody asks.
We have to get up mighty early to get to the park by 6:30AM. It's a bit chilly and I make the mistake of wearing my Milwaukee Marathon shirt. As it's long-sleeved, it's perfect for the conditions, but it also tips off that I've got a clue and I'm immediately promoted from course marshall to aid station captain. There is 1 station that is hit twice, shortly after 1 and 2 miles. This means there will be some time when we've got runners coming from both directions.
In addition to Yaya, I'm given three other teenage girls as assistants. Fortunately, they are all game and we get the station set up fairly quickly. I'm told the race attendance is a bit over 400. Given the conditions, I decide we should pour 300 cups for the group going out and 200 for those coming back. We'll then continue filling as needed when we see how many people actually take water.
The first few runners aren't terribly interested in taking anything so early. However, by the time the bulk of the field hits, it's clear that we're going to need a lot more than 300 cups. This isn't just joggers being anal about hydration. Standing around, we failed to notice how humid it was (hard to believe we missed this as the entire area was shrouded in fog an hour before the start). The runners really are sweating profusely, even though temps are still in the low 60's.
We quickly scramble assignments with two handing out water, two filling, and one manning the other side which is now seeing the leaders coming back. After about five minutes of this, it also becomes clear that the field size is considerably larger than what we had been told (post-race investigation reveals it to be 650). A quick inventory shows that even if we can keep up with the pouring, we're going to run out of cups.
A quick text to the RD (How did anybody pull off races before text messaging?) prompts reinforcements bearing more cups. With the extra help, we are able to keep up with demand and after another frantic ten minutes or so, we are down to just the stragglers coming back in. We get things cleaned up while they trickle through and pack up the station less than two hours after beginning setup.
Despite the crunch, this was pretty much a cakewalk compared to what goes into running an ultra aid station. After some bagels and cookies, Yaya and I proceed to ride every roller coaster in the park (there are nine of them). More than adequate compensation for a couple hours supporting the sport.
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