Congratulations to all the Surf City event finishers on the first of February in Huntington Beach. Each of you has accomplished something that not many people in the world can do – completed a distance athletic event – and garnered a cool surfboard medal for the effort! Some of the associated stories and photos chronicling those athletes’ experiences are included in this newsletter.
In addition to our many AREC participants, on race day thousands of other athletes passed hundreds of dedicated volunteers and workers during those events. With every thing else that is going on, did you ever wonder how those events are actually produced? Unbeknownst to many athletes, planning for an event such as Surf City is ongoing year-round. At its height of production there are dozens of professional organizers, scores of support staff, and hundreds of volunteers helping to make sure all goes smoothly for the participants before (Registration, Packet Pick-up, Ground Transportation), during (On course support, Medical, Traffic) and after (Timing, Results, Follow-up).
In addition to the time they shared before and after race day, those people both along the route and behind the scenes were there long before the first athlete arrived to compete on race day and long after the final finisher crossed the line. While everyone else was already home taking a shower and hanging the medal over the mirror, the people making the event happen still had many hours to go before they slept.
Kathy Massanet, Dave Kuntz, Cindy Kuntz, and Todd Byers were four such AREC members this year who were involved in helping to produce the Surf City events. I imagine that there are others as well which just goes to show that many more people are involved in helping you to have a pleasant experience than one may ever know. Many times, the workers are athletes themselves just wanting to give back to the community which has provided them so much enjoyment. Such is the case with several of your fellow AREC members not only with Surf City but with other local races also. As I walked the Expo, I saw many of my running friends behind the tables handing out race numbers, shirts, and other materials to the hopefuls. Just because they were helping beforehand did not preclude their participation in the race as some were also going to participate the next day.
Then there are others who make the conscious decision to NOT run in an event at all in order to make it happen for others. Those people are to be especially appreciated because not only do they know their appointed tasks, they are familiar with the race from the athletes’ standpoint as well – giving them unique insight into the psyche of the runner in order to understand how to provide even better service to each of those who does run.
So the next time you are blowing by all of those people starting the event, directing traffic, handing out water, or taking your chip, take an extra second to thank them. After all, it will take them much longer to get home than it will you. And, trust me, they will be just as tired as you are at day’s end!!
In addition, if anyone in AREC (or others of whom you know!) is ever interested in learning more about how an event is planned, produced, and carried out, or – perhaps even more importantly! -- would like to volunteer for a local event whether it be big or small, please feel free to contact AREC member Todd Byers for more information on how to break in on the ground floor. Remember, even your small neighborhood event needs volunteers to help make it work. So sometimes when faced with the choice of to run or not to run, choose the latter – and give back to your community of fellow athletes. You will be glad you did!!