Post-Marathon: Volunteer Edition

Due to a desire to give my friends, family, and so on a fundraising break, along with the need for me to get my legs - especially my ankles - back to 100%, I decided to take this year off from DFMC. It wasn't something I necessarily wanted to do, but I knew that it was ultimately for the best. It turned out to be a wise decision, as I was waylaid with respiratory infections more or less from New Year's Day to the present.

That did not, however, prevent me from being involved. I decided the least I could do was volunteer, and that is how I spent this past weekend. On Sunday, I hung out at the Copley Marriott, where I was on the runner check-in desk. It was a pretty enlightening experience, being on the other side of the table from the runners. Seeing that so many people have the same concerns and emotions that I had last year is comforting, in a sort of strange, retroactive way. Getting to know the people behind the scenes a bit was also nice. It's amazing how hard they work to make everything (and everyone) run smoothly.

On Monday, I was out at the DFMC Cheering Station at mile 17. Unfortunately, thanks to the T, I arrived just a bit too late to see the elite runners. Undoubtedly, their record pace didn't help matters much on that regard. At any rate, when I got to mile 17, runners with three digit bib numbers were effortlessly passing by. It was amazing to see, up close, people who make one of the hardest athletic challenges look so easy. I was at Mile 17, cheering, clapping, and whistling for the better part of four hours, starting from those top tier runners and going all the way through my kind of people - the people chugging and slogging and grinding through those tough Newton miles. The wide range of runners really made me appreciate the marathon on a deeper level. Seeing so many people working as hard as they can, seeing others dejected, like I was, after getting hurt at some point in the race, but still pushing toward the finish at whatever pace they can manage... it's all very inspiring.

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Some highlights of the crazy things that ran by us (sadly, no photos, as I forgot the camera). All of these were actually officially registered runners.
*A man in a gorilla suit. I high-fived him as he ran by. His gorilla gloves were soaking wet. Gross. Then again, he was pacing at about 3:30, so he probably should have been that sweaty.
*Less than ten minutes later - a man in a monkey suit. He was not nearly as sweaty.
*A guy running barefoot. Crazy.
*Double crazy - a man wearing nothing but a loincloth and a caveman wig. Barefoot, bare-assed. Yes, seriously.
*A woman dressed as a sailor. Like, Popeye-esque sailor.
*A man juggling as he ran. Pretty sure he was on pace for a sub 4 marathon.
*A guy dressed head-to-toe as Napoleon. Carrying a French flag.
*One guy dressed as Robin. And another guy dressed as Batgirl.
*A Korean man whose gimmick seemed to be stopping with entirely random people along the way to take photos with bewildered fans.
*A guy dressed as Jackie Moon, the character played by Will Ferrell in the movie Semi-Pro. Don't think he was an official runner, but he was a dead ringer for the real thing.

That's about all I can remember. It was a great great day, and it makes me anxious to even think about the prospect of running NYC in November or Boston again next year. Congratulations to those of you who fought hard and finished this year!