I said that a lot on Sunday!

First things though thanks for letting me know I’m not the only one!  The comments on my last post were awesome, thanks guys!  🙂

I was still riding that runner’s high from Thursday when I went for a run on Saturday.  While it was nowhere near the epicness of Thursday, it was still pretty good.  My planned 3.8 turned into 4.5. Oops.  🙂  The weather started out overcast and chilly but I quickly warmed up.   I’m still slower but I think I’ve finally, really accepted it.    I just took my time and enjoyed my run.   Going longer was only an oops because I had a meeting to go to with my mother.  I ended up just throwing a sweater over my running gear.  The only reason I felt ok doing this was because we were headed for a volunteer check in for the Harvest Marathon.   I have wanted to run the half at this race for the last two years but it’s proximity to City to the Sea usually has me feeling burnt out.  So instead I volunteer.  My mother and her tennis teams have to work 2 stations so I hang out with them.    The race has a 5K, half marathon and a full marathon.   The half and the full are run on back roads through vineyards and orchards as well as farms and homes.  Last year the teams were split between 2 water stations.  This year we had one of the water stations from last year and a course monitor point at the 12ish mile turn around point.  It was an early morning.  Being up that early and not racing seemed like a crime.  Have I mentioned that I love sleeping? However stopping for donuts along the way made everything better.  Didn’t you know that donuts have magical healing powers?  My boss said that the other day, I thought it was awesome.  🙂  We arrived at our aid station- mile 8.7 of the marathon- a little before sunrise.  Fall has finally arrived, so it was damn cold, after setting up the station I jumped back in the car until it was almost time for the first runner.  This is a small race put on by the high school and the funds go back into the high school athletic program.  It is Boston certified but draws a smaller crowd.   There were 97 finishers for for the full and 283 for the half.   As for the Boston qualifying part- it has an elevation gain of 1600 feet.   The aid station was at the top of a long slow climb followed by an immediate left and more climbing.   I felt so bad every time a runner asked if this was the last hill.   😦All the runners were so nice.  Most of them thanked the team for the water and for being up early on a Sunday.   Our station had water and Gatorade which was an improvement over last year when we just had water.  The port-a-potty was a huge hit too.   Apparently one guy couldn’t handle the line of one and did his business behind the port-a-potty.  Really?!  There was no line!   One runner did yell at me for the lack of race food provided and a woman from the orchard asked me if we were cleaning up after “the parade”.  When I said yes, her response was that she wasn’t going to yell at me yet then.  Ummm, thank you?On the whole, it was a good morning.  It’s fun to cheer other runners on.  Especially for a race that has no crowd support for the majority of the miles.   The people who run this race rock.   Now I am torn for next year- do I finally run it or do I keep volunteering?  Getting teenagers to voluntarily get up at the crack of dawn is like pulling teeth so my mother will probably need help again.  🙂

Ever volunteer at a water station?

Ever been yelled at by a runner?

How about the port-a-potty?  Would you have jumped the non-existent line?

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