Race Volunteering

It is 2:52 am.

I am sitting inside of the main aid station at a race. Meanwhile, there are racers making a crossing of the Duncan Ridge Trail in the high-wind, cold, tree-falling darkness. We are under a wind advisory for the next 6 hours. Temperatures on the peak will feel like negatives. Temperatures in the building that I am sitting in still require a blanket, but how can I complain? There are people up on the ridge, in headlamp darkness, being blown around. They are superheroes.

Every now and then, a runner will stagger back in, making it back to the start and some temporary respite from the elements. They’ll regroup… and then go back out into the night for another 42 mile loop (or more) as they complete this grueling event.

And here I sit. At the ready.

Ready to be their own personal chef while they change out of one set of cold and wet clothes into some fresh and dry ones. 

They’ve just run 42 miles. Some have run more than that. It’s Friday night. Some of these runners started on Tuesday – doing 200 miles on the Duncan Ridge in the Fierce Dragon Race. I am in awe of what they are doing. 

The least I can do is to make a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Hey, let me fill up those bottles. Give me that pack, let me readjust your bib to add it to your new pack. Let me do that. Let me. 

You’re looking great. You’re doing amazing. The wind is going to start dying down (false motivation – because it really is not). Go get after it. You’ve got this. 

The things left unsaid: You’ve got 60 more miles to go. You aren’t even halfway there. Your feet look trashed. Your soul looks like you forgot it on the mountain ridge. 

***

Many of us race. Many of us run.

Not as many of us volunteer.

Yet, our races are sometimes changed simply because of a volunteer. 

That motivation at mile 78, sending us closer to the finish line – was likely from a complete stranger. The quesadilla at mile 42, even though it was a bit cold, was cooked by someone who had been standing in one place nearly as long as you had been running – and it tasted amazing. The ginger-ale-water mix that you tried at mile 33 when your stomach went south brought life back into you by mile 40, and then the same volunteer who you saw five hours earlier was now working at another aid station and you could tell them thank you (and leave with more ginger-water).

Volunteers make such an impact.

Just consider it. Think of a race where a volunteer DID NOT say something to you that made your moment. Can you think of a race?

***

Sometimes, or many times, we enter a race and we carry our passion for running onto trails and pavement with a race bib attached to our hearts. The race nurtures us, it leaves us feeling accomplished. We took time for ourselves and our goals. Volunteerism does not require pinning a bib onto a shirt – in fact, there are no bibs at all! However, it plays a vital role in someone else’s story. Your presence, your choices, your decisions – are making a racer’s day … better. More valuable. YOU are valuable to that racer. 

Volunteering takes time from one set of things that we love (our family, our running, our work) in order to pour our hearts into others who are doing it. We choose to pause our training for a day – or sometimes two. We have to skip or delay our long run day. Our laundry gets pushed back a day. Cleaning the house… well, maybe next week. 

Instead of our normal routine or run, it means standing in the cold, the rain, the snow, the heat, the humidity, the fog, the bugs, the sun, the wind. There are times when a volunteer shift for a race could take longer than running a race. There are times when a volunteer sits and waits longer than running a race. 

The longer the race, the more volunteers it takes to make that race a success. 

Successful races don’t happen without the volunteers. There are so many different roles – and each is a little different depending on race and race director. Volunteer roles change if it is a point to point race versus a looped race. Timed/hourly races also add a different spin to volunteerism. 

Different race directors manage their races with a different feeling, atmosphere, and strategy. That falls into the volunteer’s position as well. Some races are proud of shouting “Fireball” at aid stations and taking shots. Other races… you likely won’t see a bottle, and instead, you might find gluten free wraps and vegan choices. As a volunteer, you should plan to adapt accordingly – or simply just choose the situations that you relate to the most. 

In most race settings, race volunteers often see a runner once – as they zoom through an aid station. Sometimes, there are volunteers who are amazing enough to work the first aid station and then move to one of the latter volunteer roles – so they get to see runners twice (and help the race even more!). 

Looped courses add a different type of fun to volunteering. You get to see the same people over and over and over.  In an event like this, you learn everyone’s name, you see them coming and know what drink they are about to ask for, you can learn habits and anticipate their needs. This event means that you can even track runners better than they can track themselves – and remind them that they haven’t eaten in a while!

Volunteering takes a servant’s heart. We all have it, we just have to find the moment that we want to let our long run sit until another day and open up our hearts to give back a little bit. The people you see along the journey make it worth it. 

The process of volunteering for races is as different as the races themselves. Some races require signing up via Ultra Signup. Other races utilize email distribution lists or Facebook groups. The best thing that you can do to find out how to volunteer is to choose a race that you would like to give back to – and then check the race website and also Ultrasignup page. If those don’t give you the info that you need, reach out to the race director!

*** 

Here is a 2024 challenge for you. 

Race one, volunteer one. 

Do this at least once – it does not have to be an even 1:1 ratio for the year… but I encourage you to do it at least once. Start the year off with that kind of a ratio. And then who knows, maybe you will find that volunteering fills your heart enough to do it again. 

Interested in getting started with volunteering? 

Check out this non-comprehensive chart for some ideas on what role might suit you best.

I should note, importantly, that the diagram lacks two immensely important areas. Course marking volunteers and course sweeping volunteers. Course marking is usually done by someone who has run the race multiple times and who works with the race director closely. Course sweepers are there to clean the course: to collect all flagging, all trash that is accidentally, to be there for emergencies (you should always know where the last runner is). You can encourage the DFL racer and cheer them on, but it is their race. You are not there to pace them, to discount their effort, or to bully them into being faster. It is their race. Let them have their race.