Race officiating provides different perspective to run

Rain seems to be the prescription for a lot of big races this year.
We’ve had an unusually wet, spring.
I had the pleasure of volunteering as a route marshal at the Hartwell Challenge in Aurora last Sunday and what a great experience it was despite the weather challenge.
A route marshal essentially makes sure that the runners are obeying the road rules and staying on the race course.
We are also charged with keeping an eye on things in general, overseeing our part of the race course.
There’s no other place I would rather be than on the course when I’m not running.
You get to encourage participants see the speedsters and be a part of things.
In a turn from the hot, sunny day Saturday, we woke up Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m. to windy, rainy weather.
Not exactly for runners and walkers, but it could have been worse, believe me.
Despite the couple of serious downpours, there were some stellar times in all events and some newly marked first time goals completed successfully.
Being stationed as a marshal at the 19K mark of the half marathon and at the 2.5K turnaround for the 5K walk and run was a lot fun, mostly because I always like watching and I loved the enthusiasm of the volunteers from Aurora High School who were working the water station beside me.
I can’t think of something less appealing than sitting out in the pouring rain without an umbrella holding water for roughly three hours.
These Grade 10 students came out and did it with an enthusiasm that surprised me.
As soon as they saw how invaluable they were to both the runners and walkers, they carefully planned out where to stand on the route to make sure they were accessible with their cups of Gatorade and water.
They could have just stood there with a sullen expression on their face wracking up their community volunteer hours and itching to get out of there.
On the contrary they took their jobs seriously and even cheered the runners in as they came in for their last two kilometres.
Without volunteers such as these students, these races would not be successful.
When I ran the Niagara Marathon, it was high school students who kept me upbeat until I got to the end.
They cheered and encouraged me all the way and these volunteers did the same on Sunday.
Congratulations to all the runners and walkers who accomplished their goals last weekend.