Last Sunday I volunteered at the Triathlon NSW Sprint series in Kurnell for this very reason. I've mentioned before that its a race I'm tempted to do but was nervous about the calibre of other athletes and whether my gear would be a laughing stock.
I'm pleased to say it was a good day despite having to get up at 4:45am!! I was due to be at the volunteers tent at 5:20am but luckily it was just a short drive from my house.
My role was registration and also finishing chute, I kind of knew what to expect with registration but had no idea about finishing shoot.
At around 5:45am we giving our instruction and each picked a box which had the different wave start rego packs in. I was Male aged 45-49. It was a simple and quite fun job, the guys would come up to me and tell me their name, I searched through till I found their pack, handed it over along with a free water bottle and a running wrist pouch a bit like this (only it was a little smaller and couldn't hold cards), and wish them luck.
Most the guys were friendly and it all went very smoothly. I think I got off quite lightly, some of the other waves such as Males 25-30 were much larger and their volunteer had a bit more work to do!
I then had some spare time so I went and got my free coffee and muffin and listened to the race briefing. This helped with my understanding of the vibe and competitive nation of the race and i'm pleased to say although there were some really great athletes there was also a large emphasis on first timers and supporting them.
After the briefing I headed over to the swim start with every one else and watched that. I must say the 750m swim looked verrrrrry long!
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| Competitors waiting for the swim start |
As I had to wear a hi vis jacket I had a few people coming up to me asking the time and wanting help with their wetsuits, nothing more complicated though.
I watched a few wave starts and then it was time to head to the finish chute. When I got their I understood what my role would be, filling up hundreds, if not thousands of plastic cups with water and sports drink.
This role wasn't as interesting as the rego but obviously a very important one, the people crossing the line are really tired and desperate for a drink, plus it was beginning to heat up. We started with three tables full of cups which was fine at the beginning but as people started crossing the line thicker and faster to got a bit hectic! and we struggled to keep up with demand.
This brings me to the second reason that I think volunteer is worth doing. It makes you realise that these volunteers have given up their Sunday morning to help out, its likely they haven't done it before and might not know the answer to your question. They won't have the fore knowledge of knowing how quickly the drinks go at aid stations or why more toilets were not organised or why someones rego pack has ended up in the males instead of females.
I did come across a couple of people who were a little grumpy but I am pleased to say that in all most people were really friendly and a number came up and thanked us for helping out.
The third reason that volunteering is great is that events like these couldn't happen without volunteers, or if they did the entry fee would be a lot more. So if you compete in lots of events I say its good to volunteer at a couple and you'd probably have a better race experience next time because of it.
And I'm sure you are busting to know.......I do plan on entering the next event! I have 6 weeks to train.
Chubby Katie.x
This brings me to the second reason that I think volunteer is worth doing. It makes you realise that these volunteers have given up their Sunday morning to help out, its likely they haven't done it before and might not know the answer to your question. They won't have the fore knowledge of knowing how quickly the drinks go at aid stations or why more toilets were not organised or why someones rego pack has ended up in the males instead of females.
I did come across a couple of people who were a little grumpy but I am pleased to say that in all most people were really friendly and a number came up and thanked us for helping out.
The third reason that volunteering is great is that events like these couldn't happen without volunteers, or if they did the entry fee would be a lot more. So if you compete in lots of events I say its good to volunteer at a couple and you'd probably have a better race experience next time because of it.
And I'm sure you are busting to know.......I do plan on entering the next event! I have 6 weeks to train.
Chubby Katie.x
