Race Day Life Support

Could you do a triathlon swim without goggles?  Sure, but it would be very uncomfortable and heaven forbid you wear contacts or you might come into T1 blind.  How about completing the ride in a long course race in tennis shoes, now that you have fancy shmancy clipless pedals and shoes?  Yep, but you’d lose a lot of power.  How about doing the run in the blazing heat of at Texas summer without your hat/visor or sunglasses?  Of course!  But you’d get such a headache that you’d want to quit far before you reached the finish line.

So how much thought have you put into the importance of volunteers on race day?  Are they as vital as your goggles, bike shoes, or sunglasses?  As triathletes we focus on every aspect of the sport that can shave a nanosecond here and a millisecond there.  Do you ever factor the importance of volunteers into this?  They’re all relevant and necessary to a successful race day.

Don’t feel bad if I’ve left your favorite volunteer task off, I promised to try and keep these things short and I’m really trying my best to do so. 

Wetsuit strippers – aside from the fact that these poor rookie volunteers have no clue that they’re getting more than just water thrown on them each time they strip a wetsuit, these folks save you time.  Have you tried to get out of a wetsuit on your own?  I have, it sucks.  You step on it, you pull it, you sit down (WHAT???  Who would sit in transition, certainly not anyone that knows what they’re doing), you turn in circles, like a dog or cat trying to get comfortable before they lie down, then you just stop, take a deep breath and reassess the situation.  THEN, then that is when you finally get your wetsuit off.   I tried a new wetsuit on once when I was home alone and learned NEVER to do that again.  By the time I got it on I was sweating so much the darn thing had suctioned itself to my body.  I went from door to door (in a skin tight black suit in the dark) trying to find a neighbor to answer their door and help me out of the neoprene death grip.  No one answered.  Odd.  Point is, wetsuit strippers save you time.  I had a guy run all the way up to T1 with me at a race one time because the zipper on my wetsuit was stuck.  I was ready to go it alone, but he kept yelling (encouraging may be a better word) me to keep running while he tried to get the zipper undone.  It takes no time, while they’re handing you your wetsuit, to thank them.  So, thank them.

Bottle hand-up volunteers – You know those long rides we do?  The rides where we have to factor in where the convenience stores are so we can stop and get more water because we’re riding for five hours and there’s just no way (even with my rigging up every water bottle possible and, yes, a camel back) to carry enough water.   You know how your legs get stiff every time you stop?  How you lose your pace and rhythm?  Imagine doing that every 10 miles on the bike course.  Having to stop and get off your bike and refill.  O.M.G.  Who can even imagine having to do THAT?  That would drop your pace down a good ½mph or more.  And that, that is a lot of time in a race.  So when you eye your bottle hand-up volunteer, point to them and as you grab your bottle say a simple “thank you.”  Again, this adds zero time to your race, BUT they’ve just saved you time.

Sunscreen application volunteers – I find that these folks are few and far between, especially at the races that I need them most at (ahem, Galveston).  They seem to come out later in the race, but for those of us of German and English descent, whose skin leans towards the English side and being TOTALLY pale and were in an earlier wave they are often hard to come by.  When they are available and drowning your skin with a thick coat of a white pore choking substance, remember that they are saving you time from applying your own sunscreen.  Ever try to use spray sunscreen (so your hands don’t slip on the bike) after swimming?  How well does that stick to wet skin?  They are also saving you time in the form of doctor’s appointments and cancer treatments for skin cancer.  So, thank them.

Water Stop Volunteers – These volunteers are lifesavers.  Imagine having to carry enough hydration to get you through your race.  You know how heavy that would be?  I have learned, through being yelled at as a volunteer, to thank these folks.  I volunteered at El Scorcho once and was handing out what I was told was Gatorade.  As a woman came around for another lap, I called out “Gatorade” and handed her a cup.  She took a swig, spit it out, threw the cup down, and turned around screaming at me “that is not Gatorade!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  It made me never want to volunteer again.  She was scary!  Now, when I volunteer, I simply say “sports drink”, I figure that’s safer.  These folks  are your key to successful race.  I had a great volunteer experience once when I was wanting water at a race.  I ran through the stop yelling “water” and there wasn’t any ready.  As I passed the stop,  mouth parched but  not wanting the sweet nectar of a sticky sports drink, I heard the pitter-patter of feet behind me and a small voice saying “ma’am, ma’am”.  One of the volunteers was running after me with a cup of water.  That made my race!  Thank these volunteers.  Even if you can’t get the words out while you’re throwing down a cup of sports drink and drenching your head with a cup of water, a simple wave will do the trick.

Police Officers/Traffic Control – I don’t think I need to go into detail here why these volunteers are so vitally important.  Not only do they allow you to continue through congested intersections without stopping, they also protect your lives.  I thank every one of them.  Even on a loop course, where I see them more than once, I do my best to thank them every time.  Now, they are getting paid to be out there, but it can’t be an easy job in the middle of the Texas summer.  So thank them. 

Ironman Changing tent volunteers – WOW.  That is all I can really say.  For those of you who have yet to do an Ironman, you will experience some of the most amazing volunteers in the changing tent.  In Coeur d’Alene, I stood in the women’s changing tent with my sports bra pulled over my head and only about halfway on.  For any woman that has tried to put a sports bra on while wet or any guy who has tried to put on a tri top while dripping with lake water, you know it’s not an easy feat.  I grabbed the arm of the volunteer and just said, “will you please help me?”  Now, I am not good at asking for help, but I knew I wasn’t going to make it out of the tent in the manner of “dress” that I was currently in, so I needed help.  She stopped what she was doing and took my bag from me.  As she started pulling things out she would say, “Is it an arm warmer day?  Is it a gloves day?  Etc.”  I would have liked to think at the age of 29 I was totally capable of dressing myself.  But in this situation, maybe it was my half frozen fingers from the frigid lake water, the help was overwhelming.  I must have thanked her every time she helped me put something on (she truly dressed me, I don’t think I even put my own socks on).  These volunteers are fabulous and without her, I would probably have been in the changing tent for at least another 5 minutes.

If you have never volunteered for an event, even a local 5K, go do it.  Take a morning off training and go volunteer.  You will be amazed at the appreciation you receive and how great it is to volunteer at an event and help others do what you love to do.  Take yourself out of being the one that needs to be supported and support others.  It will bring to light just how amazing the volunteers are that make every one of your races possible for you.