What a weekend!
Saturday was spent tubing down the White River, so much fun! I didn't get burned, which was nice, and the company was spectacular! What made the weekend really spectacular was volunteering at an aid station for the Vermont Endurance 100, a 100mile and 100k race through the hills of Windsor, VT. The Keating Aid Station was set at mile 92 and is open from 4pm Saturday afternoon until 7:45am Sunday morning.
Since I had worked it last year, I knew what I needed to bring and what needed to happen. I packed in my crockpot, Keurig machine, tupperware containers, screen house, and x-mas lights, chairs, and I am not sure exactly what else! The screen house was set up and strung with lights, I forgot my radio, but Pandora worked on my phone, so we had Paul Simon radio playing all night long. Of course, we did have power, or none of these things would have been possible. We kept the water jug full and the Hammer Heed mixed. We had cups full of ice ready to add to water bottles and hydration packs, cups full of Coke, Mt Dew, and Ginger Ale. The PB&J and turkey and cheese sandwiches were made in multiple batches and cut into quarters for easy consumption and to keep the waste down. Oranges were quartered, bananas halved and "zippered" with a slit for easy pealing, the cantelope was wedged. Gummy bears was the surprising leader in energy, while potatoes and salt were the least touched. I had multiple runners tell me that my crockpot broth (a few packs of ramen noodles, and a whole bunch of bouillon cubes) was the best on the course.
Not a single runner came through without some major cheering from the entire station, often from the moment we could see them, some 100+ yards up the road. They were checked in on the clock and every runner and pacer were offered the same assistance of filling bottles, getting them food, telling them what we had. It was full service. We even had a stone wall and chairs to offer the runners if they wanted/needed the break.
The runners were amazing, having come 92 miles, with 8 miles to go. They were all my heroes. Even the pacers were incredible, as they were running longer than a marathon (30 miles) with no official credit (they already had completed 22 miles when they hit our station)! When we tried to tell them they were also doing great and were awesome, they brushed it off, the common phrase of "I am just a pacer," uttered by all of them.
The event is incredible, the runners even more so. I cannot wait to do this next year!
Saturday was spent tubing down the White River, so much fun! I didn't get burned, which was nice, and the company was spectacular! What made the weekend really spectacular was volunteering at an aid station for the Vermont Endurance 100, a 100mile and 100k race through the hills of Windsor, VT. The Keating Aid Station was set at mile 92 and is open from 4pm Saturday afternoon until 7:45am Sunday morning.
Since I had worked it last year, I knew what I needed to bring and what needed to happen. I packed in my crockpot, Keurig machine, tupperware containers, screen house, and x-mas lights, chairs, and I am not sure exactly what else! The screen house was set up and strung with lights, I forgot my radio, but Pandora worked on my phone, so we had Paul Simon radio playing all night long. Of course, we did have power, or none of these things would have been possible. We kept the water jug full and the Hammer Heed mixed. We had cups full of ice ready to add to water bottles and hydration packs, cups full of Coke, Mt Dew, and Ginger Ale. The PB&J and turkey and cheese sandwiches were made in multiple batches and cut into quarters for easy consumption and to keep the waste down. Oranges were quartered, bananas halved and "zippered" with a slit for easy pealing, the cantelope was wedged. Gummy bears was the surprising leader in energy, while potatoes and salt were the least touched. I had multiple runners tell me that my crockpot broth (a few packs of ramen noodles, and a whole bunch of bouillon cubes) was the best on the course.
Not a single runner came through without some major cheering from the entire station, often from the moment we could see them, some 100+ yards up the road. They were checked in on the clock and every runner and pacer were offered the same assistance of filling bottles, getting them food, telling them what we had. It was full service. We even had a stone wall and chairs to offer the runners if they wanted/needed the break.
The runners were amazing, having come 92 miles, with 8 miles to go. They were all my heroes. Even the pacers were incredible, as they were running longer than a marathon (30 miles) with no official credit (they already had completed 22 miles when they hit our station)! When we tried to tell them they were also doing great and were awesome, they brushed it off, the common phrase of "I am just a pacer," uttered by all of them.
The event is incredible, the runners even more so. I cannot wait to do this next year!
1 comment:
I can't plan as far ahead as you can but I sure hope I'm around to join you next year! It sounds like so much fun!
Post a Comment