Volunteering
The sport of running is consists of just 2 basic things. You run for yourself when you’re thinking about your well-being and random thoughts like “what’s for dinner?“. The other side of running is for the local community and causes. People run for other people who cannot. This can be for family, friends, and complete strangers. But as a runner we believe in creating a better world by what we do.
For 2014, I’m going to try something new. I’m ashamed to say that I never volunteered before because each race I have attended, I ended up running it.
The volunteers make up the race, they are the ones who control the logistics and take care of you when runners themselves can’t do anything at the moment. It always melts my heart to see younger kids half my age, volunteer. Let’s not forget they wake up earlier then the runners and have a bigger responsibly. I wish someone told me to volunteer when I was younger. It’s a great thing to help out.
KUDOS!
I remember a few weeks ago when I ran the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot, I made these kids smile because I had my Mickey Mouse hands. Oh yes! It was fun.
When you volunteer for a race it can range from 2 hours – 8 hours, depending on the event. You are not obligated to stay for those hours but as a courtesy, don’t just leave them hanging. Remember it’s not a job, it’s volunteer work that you wanted to do.
PERKS?
I did research and generally speaking, you get incentives. A lot of the races host a different event per month or quarterly so be sure to check. Most of them will give you a future race entry. You can also get lunch, shirts, and their swag bag if it’s applicable to the event. Please note that not all will give you perks, but it’s still GOOD to volunteer because it’s “runners helping runners”.
In conclusion, I’m going to report back and see how well this will go. I have never been on this side of the race so it’s going to be an adventure for me.
Someone remind me to run afterwards please 🙂
About Jason
Running Fanatic who loves to inspire people through Social Media. I have been running for over 3 years ranging from mud runs, 5k and all the way up to marathon running. Isn't it great to run!?
