Route 66 Marathon Recap - Volunteer Edition

Now that the Route 66 Marathon Weekend is over, it's time to reflect on all that I experienced.

Just as yesterday, I worked the finish line today. But first, the team of finish line volunteers gathered to hang the medals and heat sheets about an hour before the starting gun.

Pre-medal racks...

Compared to last year's freezing, windy weather, this year was a virtual paradise - mid-50's with gusty winds, and unlike yesterday, NO RAIN! We got the heat sheets and medals hung relatively quickly, and were ready for the first half-marathon finishers when they crossed the finish line.

The medals were hung by the heat sheets with care...

Once we were finished, I was stationed at the finish line with three other volunteers to greet the finishers as they crossed the finish line, keep the flow of traffic moving towards the medals and food tent, help any runners who were experiencing physical pain from injury of exhaustion.

Waiting on finishers...

The morning was filled with all sorts of amazing, confusing and inspiring sights - from the blazing fast marathon finishers to the runner that ran the entire downtown course in bare feet to the wheelchair competitors to the teams of runners finishing together to the (just like last year!) marriage proposal - this year's marathon pretty much had it all!

Four hours into it...

Finishers receiving their well-earned medals...

This year, there was a veritable plethora of medals:

A small sampling of the medals...

Marathon Finisher

Half Marathon Finisher

First Marathon Finisher

Marathon Maniac

Relay Medal

Half Fanatic

My shift ended after six hours at 1PM, five hours into the race. Amazingly (and accidentally), I exited the highway and came across runners still on the course - my hat's off to these runners, they're so much more resilient that I could ever hope to be!

Runners on the course 

And on a personal note, the Tulsa World retweeted one of my tweets - thanks, guys!

And so, another year is in the books. Already looking forward to next year's festivities. It's the 10th anniversary of the Route 66 Marathon, and I have it on good authority from @tulsagrly that it's going to be pretty amazing!

A special shout-out to Hannah and Laura, who despite having just finished running 13.1 miles, stopped to say 'hi' at the finish line - so proud of both of you! Maybe I'll be joining you at the finish line next year!

Route 66 5K and Fun Run - Volunteer Edition

Well, the Route 66 5K and Fun Run is in the books.

The weather cooperated - right up until the start of the race.

We volunteers showed up around 7am for the 8am starting gun and quickly got to work hanging medals and heat sheets, moving barricades and directing traffic. This year the medals didn't come wrapped in plastic - trying to be more green - and a team of us made quick work out of hanging the 5K and Fun Run Finisher's medals.

The Medals and Heat Sheets

About 20 minutes before the start of the race, the crowd of runners began to gather in the chute, and the weather was (so far) cooperating - the rain seemed to be staying to the east of us as the storm front moved across Tulsa.

The runners begin to queue up

Then, with about five minutes until the starting gun, the sky started to spit on us. Everyone was in such good spirits, though, that it hardly seemed to make a difference. With five minutes to go, we heard a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, then came the final countdown and the starting gun, and the runners were off!

Five minutes to go...

Then the rain started coming down, very lightly at first. As the runners started cross the finish line, the rain became heavier. One of the first runners to cross vomited just past the finish line, and it became my job for the rest of the morning to keep runners and walkers from plodding through the mess. Sorry, no picture of that... ;) I ended up soaking wet because it was so busy for a while there, I completely forgot to put on my rain poncho until after I was pretty much soaked to the bone.

This year's medals were very nice indeed:

Fun Run Finisher's Medal

5K Finisher's Medal

And the Volunteer Coin wasn't too shabby, either:

Now it's time to dry off and get some rest - I'll be right back out there tomorrow working the finish line for the Marathon.

A special congrats to Sarah at @RunGingerRunBlog and her Hubbo, Cindy Decker and Ms. Kate, as well as the many others who completed the Route 66 5K and Fun Run today!

I'm Back!

Just a quick note to say I'm back.



I came across some pictures from two years ago...I want to get back there.

So stay tuned...this should be fun!