"Good job!"

I must of said "Good job" a bazillion times today - it was unavoidable.  For the first time I volunteered at a local race in lieu of participating.  Actually, this particular race, the Defiance 50k Ultra was a bit out of my league so perfect for me to volunteer in.  The minimum distance was a bit over 9 miles so in theory I *could* have tried but....I think I made the right choice by volunteering though.

When I run races volunteers are just incredible.  Always cheering, always helpful, always standing in the rain, in the cold, in the heat and for hours on end.  The volunteers that hand out water to fast runners have to deal with wet sleeves for the rest of the day.  The volunteers that take off timing chips at the end of the race have to deal with touching sweaty stinky runner-flesh and I always wondered "Did anyone pee in their shorts during their race to get a better time?"  Because if so, then volunteers taking off timing chips have to deal with urine as well.  I've never peed my pants during a run (knock on wood) but my time was due to contribute as a volunteer.

This morning's 50k was a trail run in an area that me and my peeps love to get our own running workout in.  The race director figured out a choice of 3 distances so you could go one loop for the shortest distance (15k) two loops (30k) or three loops (50k).  My job was to be a crossing guard and make sure none of the speeding cars hit any runners.  And of course I was to cheer whenever and as much as possible!

It was a nice, sunny day but COLD and I was standing in the tree cover on top of a hill called "Monster hill" by the locals.  Anyway - when the first group of runners came I was sooo stinking excited!

"Good job!  Good job!  *clapping*clapping* Good job!"  I should of brought my cowbell to add to the cheer.  I knew the next time I saw these runners they would be on their 2nd and then 3rd loop so I had to deviate from my phrase of "Good job" to give them something new and inspiring. 

As I waited for the runners to make their loop around for the first time I texted Kate who happened to be cycling in the neighborhood (big surprise) and she came by to give me much needed company.  Before she showed up two runners who had a 5-minute pace flew past me going the wrong way.  I had such a delayed reaction and then questioned "Did the course change?  Do they know where they're going?  Did they change their mind?  Did they lose something?"  And 10 minutes later I see the race director running fast and hard with them leading them to get back on course.  I heard one of the speed demons say "No one ever told us we were ever going the wrong way!"  I felt instant guilt.  Kate did a good job of reassuring me over and over again that this was not my fault.  Because of this I was even more motivated to be there for the other runners.

The dialogue with passing runners gets interesting.  I found out that some runners had gotten lost right at the start and thus gave up.  I found out that a bees nest was disturbed further down the loop and the bees were stinging every runner that they could!  Rumor is someone finally was able to battle the bees and get the hive off the trail but lost their pants as a result of his bravery.  What a sacrifice! 

I was rocking to music with one earbud in and Kanye West inspired me to start telling runners "You look strong!  Good job!"  I love the girl who on her third loop asked me "How strong do I look now?"  The answer:  SUPER STRONG.  She had tie-dyed compression sleeves on her arms and red hair.  I loved her.

Then Peter Cetera came on my MP3 (I'm not ashamed) so then I started telling people "You're the inspiration - looking great - good job!" 

For the ones struggling I told runners "You're Rocky man - you're going the distance!  Good job!"  I loved the one girl who asked me to sing "Eye of the Tiger" for her for more inspiration.  So I should of brought cowbell AND my microphone. 

Some runners I'd say "You're doing it man - looking awesome" and one very tired fella said "I can't even feel what I'm doing anymore but I'm just gonna keep moving my feet."  Hells yeah. 

My favorite was the feisty fella who informed me that if I thought he looked awesome when he's ultra running then I should see how awesome he is when he's all cleaned up! Little does he know I find sweaty, dirty, hard-working fellas WAY more attractive than cleaned up ones.

When there were gaps between runners I'd see other recreational runners struggling up Monster Hill so I started to encourage them too.  One girl was doing 10 miles that day, another girl was doing 15.  They were awesome.  Kudos to the girl with the Aussie-Heeler who stopped the out of control SUV and screamed "Slow down A$$hole!"  Don't mess with Tacoma girls man.

I got asked several times by drivers how to find the zoo. If I was a crossing guard all the time.  What the heck was going on.  Or if I had seen their family member running. 

Some runners would ask me on the 2nd or 3rd loop what order they were in.  I found many different ways to say NO IDEA.  When it comes to loops it's really hard to say.  I couldn't even make an inspirational twist of encouragement out of that honest answer.

I woke up at 5:45am (NEVER HAPPENS), got my latte staring at the sun rise & illuminating Rainier and stood as a crossing guard for 5.5 hours with no food or bathroom break and time flew by.  Go figure.

As the race dwindled down the 50k runners all seemed to have the same joke "No offense but I'm so happy I won't be running by you for a fourth time."  No offense taken. 

What I heard the most today was a plethora of thank yous from all the tired, hard-working and sweaty runners. Here they are, struggling for breath yet still muster gratitude.  I just love the running community.  Runners are so supportive, positive, upbeat and luckily for me you don't even need to be good at running to be a part of a runners' community.  I'm looking forward to volunteering more (with cowbell, a stereo and handwarmers though).  And I look forward to more sweaty and dirty fellas!  My favorite!