NYCHalf 2013: Volunteering

Sunday morning the PIC and I woke up extra early and made our way down to the finish line for the NYCHalf. Honestly, it was a little weird NOT running this race, but I know it's for the better. Next year (hopefully) I will be ready for this one. It is, after all, the anniversary of my first half marathon.

As soon as we got there, the area was buzzing with people. Even though the winners were still an hour away from finishing, there was a lot to do! We were redirected to help unload the UPS trucks with the runner's bags and then organize them by number. Little did we know, there is a science to it and it really helped when we were swarmed with just-finished half marathoners wanting their warm clothes. Once that was done, there was a lot of waiting. We had the bags for the runners in Corral 8 (the corrals went up to 22)- so we weren't slammed with runners finishing until about half way through. So what else to do but take fun pictures?

A finish line worthy photo for finishing bag sorting.

The calm before the storm!

Very soon this area would be filled to the brim with 13.1ers.

This started with the very sleep deprived PIC's comment "You think I could fit in that box?"- followed by a "I think you can too!" We should not be allowed to be left to our own devices. Seriously.

But once our runner's started to flow in, we got busy! Sadly, we were too slow for the young guys in our group who were having a blast running around trying to get bags for runners. They were super enthusiastic about getting runner's their bags, so we just reorganized the bags and moved them closer together as they were being picked up. After the majority of the bags in our pen were gone, we broke down the table and barracks and picked up random trash while waiting for the rest of the runners to finish.

Did I mention it was cold? 

Like I'm lucky to still have my toes cold. We were stuck in between the shade of 2 buildings and the wind was seriously biting. We danced around to try to keep warm, but after a few hours, even that didn't help my fingers and toes- note to self: Do not forget the toe and hand warmers even if you have 2 pairs of pants on, 2 shirts and 2 jackets. We found out the finish line was a few blocks up, so our supervisor let us walk up there to see the last finishers. Moving really helped keep warm. 

On our way, who did we run into?! Gabby and her mom! 

It was so great getting to meet her IRL and having a second to talk. They were stationed at the medals and it sounded like lots of fun, too. 
 

The finish line: from the other side

It was really inspiring to see these last runners who were putting their all into making sure they got across that finish line before they picked up the mats. We cheered super loud for them and got lots of high fives!

We checked out of our shift and decided to have brunch in the area (gotta support Lower Manhattan!) to warm up. It was super delish and a great end to a great day! As soon as I got home, I took a nap. Volunteering was very tiring :)

I hope everyone had a great race! See you next year.

What did you do for St. Patty's?