Volunteerism at the Danskin Triathlon

Today, I woke up at 4:15am in order to get out to Decker Lake so I could volunteer for the Danskin Triathlon. It was early, my friends. Anyway, Frank had hooked me up with an on-site parking pass, so I parked near the volunteer tent and was able to take a quick nap for 15 minutes or so before I had to report for duty. I was assigned to the bike route team of volunteers, and sat down with my bag of goodies to wait my turn. I saw Henry there, who was helping with the bike transition area. With the skies still basically dark, we were trucked out to the bike course, and I was stationed at about the 1/2 mile mark, at the turn from Decker Road into the Expo Center parking area. It was a tough little corner, going from a pretty good downhill to a tight right hand turn, through a gate, and then up an immediate rise in the road.

I got to know the sheriff's deputy who was assigned to the same corner (his name was Greg), and once the ladies started coming by at about 7:30, there was a steady stream of riders until about 10:15. After the elite athletes, the next wave into the water were cancer survivors, followed by wave after wave of folks assigned by age group. So, mixed in with uncertain bike riders were really fit people on more expensive bikes. It made for some spooky moments at that corner, as the good cyclists wanted to scream around the corner, while the newbies rode their brakes down the hill, and creeped around the corner with no momentum for the hill to come.

We only had two crashes: One where a woman just went too wide, and got caught in the sandy shoulder on the road and twisted over (she was just fine, and went on her way after I fixed her bicycle chain for her), and a guy who was one of the cyclist helpers, who blew a front tire right in the middle of that same corner, and went down pretty hard. Except for some road rash, he was okay, too.

Jan stopped by for about 15 minutes to chat while on her way to the spectator area by the run course. I saw Tracy from the Gazelles, and Diane from the old Galloway team, but missed several other folks I had intended to cheer on in the crowds.

After the last cyclist passed my position, I was released to the transition area, where I saw Frank and his family. It was a pretty cool scene, watching all of those women fulfill either a long- or short-term fitness dream. I'm sure the feeling for most of them was akin to finishing your first marathon.

I was glad to help out for this event, despite the early start to my day. I managed to escape sunburn, and I'm looking forward to the coming week. Now, I just need a nap.