I woke up this morning at 7am to the sound of a Race Director's voice blaring over the loud speakers at the starting line of a 5k. I jumped out of bed and looked out the window to see hundreds of athletes milling around our neighborhood waiting for the starting gun to send them on their 3.1 mile journey.
I put Cooper on his leash and made my way down to the race where volunteers were setting up stations for registration, water, food, t-shirts, awards, and other various goodies. The amount of effort that they were putting into making the race run as smoothly as possible was admirable. They weren't running. They weren't there to win any award or set a personal best. They were there for one purpose: to make sure the runners, no matter how fast or slow, had a great time.
Standing there watching this unfold was a new sight for me. I can't remember ever being at a race without actually racing so this perspective shed a lot of light on the efforts that actually go into making these races a success.
I made a decision after watching the race come to an end and the volunteers packed up their stations. I plan to volunteer for an upcoming race. I want to help support the sport I love to see if I can't make others like it as much as me.
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