Ten volunteer roles for a marathon or half marathon

If you’ve ever competed in a marathon or half marathon, then you probably know that many of these road running events are supported by tens, hundreds, or thousands of volunteers.

Registration fees and sponsorship money are simply not enough to pay all of the people who fill all of the roles that volunteers play. But many people year after year volunteer to support their local marathon or half marathon.

If you’ve never volunteered before, you may not know that the insights gained from the experience can help you in a number of ways when you later run or walk a marathon or half marathon, regardless of whether it’s the same event or some other event. in the same city or in another city.

But what are the possibilities of volunteering?

Here is a list of ten volunteer roles and some details behind each one:

• Aid stations: Often called water stops, these are the locations along the race course where volunteers dispense water or electrolyte drinks to runners and walkers who pass them.
• Fall bag: This is where any runner who has personal items (such as spare shoes or toiletries) that they may want immediately after finishing the race (instead of returning to their car or hotel room) can drop off and retrieve a bib bag at game. Therefore, this volunteer role requires you to accept bags before a race begins, maintain bag security throughout the race, and retrieve and return bags to runners at the end of the race.
• Clean: Volunteers in this role collect cups, food wrappers, and other discarded items from around aid stations or elsewhere along the race course, and can handle the emptying of trash receptacles at those locations. other areas.
• Race Stewards/Officials: These volunteers help ensure that runners stay on the race track and that spectators stay away. They can also help call runners or others for help in emergency situations.
• Race Timers: These volunteers sit or stand at mile or kilometer markers along the course and announce the overall pace of runners and walkers based on those runners’ split times at those markers.
• Finish line: Volunteers here can dispense finisher’s medals and can help ensure half marathon runners and marathon runners cross separate timing mats.
• Finalists shirts: This volunteer role requires you to distribute finisher jerseys to the finishers in the race according to the sizes requested.
• Filling and collection of packages: Among the ten volunteer roles listed here, this is the only role that is likely to require your effort. before on race day: filling packets (“goody bags”) for runners and then matching runners’ registration information (such as a printout or driver’s license) with their race bibs so they collect complete packets and precise.
• Post-race party: If you volunteer for this role, you may be asked to do any of the supporting roles for the post-race celebration.
• Breed results: You help with the entry, counting and reporting of race results in this role.

There you have it: 10 ways to help out by volunteering for your next local marathon or half marathon that you won’t be running in!