By Contributing Author Running Girl of Kay Nou = Our House
A few months ago I heard about a brand new race being organized right in my own backyard! I was so excited because it was my favorite distance: a half marathon. It fit into my spring race plans, falling a few weeks after the Buffalo Half Marathon. Plus, it was in the Southtowns, where I live.
The only drawback for me was the price tag. It was about twice as much as most half marathons. I hemmed and hawed about signing up. I kept telling myself it had better have some pretty good swag to make the price tag worthwhile.
Secretly, I kind of hoped the race would not be successful. I hoped the high price of entry would keep people from signing up. I hoped it would run again another year, but at a lower cost.
I finally decided to sign up. I knew it would kill me to hear about the race, see people wearing the race t-shirts around town and seeing it covered in the local news and not being a part of it. I would be logging miles that day anyway, so why not go ahead and sign up.
I continued to train. This was to be the fourth half marathon for me of 2012. I was excited and worked hard to keep my training up during the end of the school year. This was no mean feat as we were particularly busy this June, with my oldest, Subway Dude’s graduation from high school.
9 days before the race, I received an email stating that the run was being postponed. 9 days before? That’s crazy. This may have been my 4th race of season, but for some people it may be their only race. Weeks and months go into training. Some people even travel from out of town for a race.
You might wonder why someone would come to Buffalo for a race, but this race had you finish at the Bills 50 yard line. Pretty cool.
I was disappointed about the race and none too happy that the race fee was apparently non-refundable. It was even more distressing to see local articles wondering if the race director was scamming people out of their money. Supposedly the race was going to be rescheduled for the fall, however the Bills will be playing some home games and their management would be less than enthusiastic about several hundred people traipsing across their field.
A few days later, emails began flying around about some local groups taking the race over, including Eclipse Multi Sport, the Buffalo Bills, the Town of Orchard Park, Visit Buffalo Niagara and the Sports Commission. Things were quickly falling into place, however they were in desperate need of volunteers.
I pitched the idea to my kids. Wouldn’t it be fun to get a group of friends together to help out at the race? One kid immediately jumped on board and the other was a little more reluctant, but eventually agreed.
Race morning, the kids and I picked up their friends before 6 am. Now that’s dedication on the part of these teenagers at the beginning of their summer.
Subway Dude dropped me off at the start line and they drove to their water stop at mile 12. My kids would be operating the final water station.
The race course was beautiful. I ran on roads I had never run before. We ran past horse farms that I didn’t know existed. It was a gorgeous day.
Mile 12 was at the top of an incline. As I made my way up the hill I heard the sounds of shouts and cheers. I couldn’t make out the people at the water stop right away, but they were cheering for everyone, not just me.
As I reached the top of the hill, I could see that my kids and their friends were cheering and yelling like crazy. I was so incredibly proud of them. Their water station was heads and shoulders above the other stops. My kids were clearly having a fantastic time. They called out to every person, encouraging the runners that they would be able to see the stadium when they reached the next corner.
I rewarded my kids and their friends with nice sweaty hugs and then finished the race. After I got a gatorade and the most delicious apple ever, I walked back a mile to their water station.
I was able to help hand out water and clean up. The kids were still cheering and shouting. We finally saw what we thought were the final runners, followed by a police car. As they passed the police car said there were two more runners a little ways back.
My kids were amazing. There was no discussion of leaving before the final runners came past. We waited until we saw the two people coming up the hill. We encouraged them up the final hill and offered water before packing up and heading home.
The race officials were not able to order medals in time for the runners. There were limited volunteer t-shirts and my kids didn’t get any. None of that mattered. They had a fantastic experience. I even had one kid say, “That was so awesome! Can we volunteer at another race?”
To think, this was a race that almost didn’t happen. If it had gone on as scheduled, my kids would have missed out on a great volunteer experience. For me, the race was great, but my kids’ experience was the high point. I hope the next time they are presented with a volunteer opportunity they think back to this experience and are excited to get out and help.
About the Author: Running Girl is the mother of 3, a wife, music teacher and long distance enthusiasts who lives in Western New York. Please visit her blog at kaynou.wordpress.com
Photo of boy running by djnisbet, found on Flickr
