October 11-12, 2008
New River 50k & Dupont Marathon

This was my volunteer weekend. I traveled to Fries, VA, to help out Annette with her inaugural 50k race. This took place on the very flat New River rail trail. I worked at the primary aid station. I stayed in a house right by the start/finish and spent the eving with Annette and George and David and Patty Kirk.

Morning came quickly and I tried to assemble my group of volunteers. We rode out with the forst service and set up all of the goodies for the runners. Many friends were racing so I got to see a multitude of friendly faces.

There was a lull between the outbound and inbound traffic so we went out on a fantastic rail bridge and hung out in the sun. I got to talking with one volunteer, Melissa Beaver and we hit it off rather well.

We made our way back to the station and readied ourselves for the returning runners. They came in slowly at first but soon we were again inundated. It was fast and furious but also very enjoyable.

Afterward, I got to know Melissa a bit better and knew she was someone I needed to be in touch with. The entire experience was well worth it for me and there was a bonus on top of it all.

That Sunday, I worked the primary intersection at the Dupont Marathon. I acted as traffic cop, signaling directions and attempting to avoid collisions. This was my frst ever marathon, in 2005, and I'd volunteered in 2006. There is a waiting game at the start but once they start coming, things really take off.

Watching the dynamic of the front runners and how they gain or lose is something I rarely get to witness as a middle to back of the pack runner. Everyone passes the intersection five times so we get a different view of the race each time.

Some interesting sidebars; a geo cacher came by and was looking under some rocks right next to us. People use coordinates to find stashes and take something from the container and leave something in its place.

Another incident involved some horse riders, who were less than congenial. Despite knowing there was a matahon in progress, they chose to ride on the course without regard to the runners. Horse riders have right of way on trails which allow horses but one rider gave absolutely no respect to the runners and trotted out in front of a couple of them. She acted like she owned the trail. I called out to alert the runners, since it was a somewhat blind intersection, and another rider complained about me hollering. I had a few choice but polite words for her. The next group of riders was very polite.

All in all, things went well. I paces the second to last runner to within 200 yards of the finish and then went back to pace the final runner for about a mile to within 100 yards of the finish. The Dupont Marathon had been her first ever maraton the previous year, at age 50, and it was her second marathon this year. She beat her time by one minute this year.

B-Rex