Hey folks,
My wife and I were volunteers at IM AZ on Sunday (just after the mile 4 aid station – “Lookin’ good runners! Watch out for this curb…”). We were there from 4:30pm until they shut the station down just after 11pm. Around 9pm or so, I noticed an athlete standing on the side of the road near the aid station, about 50 feet from us. He had no shirt on and was just cheering people on – he looked like a runner who had dropped out, but was trying to keep other people motivated. I walked up closer and noticed his number was #32, which meant he was a pro. My wife mentioned she saw him run up to the aid station and stop, so we both assumed he had DNF’d there and was hanging out for a ride.
A while later, someone running by asked how he did, and he mentioned he came in 6th place. I looked him up when we got back and his name is Stijn Demeulemeester from Belgium. Personally, I know nothing about him (a few posts on ST mentioned he was a top AG athlete in Kona the last two years), but I want to mention that I think he’s a class act. After getting 6th, he came to the back side of the course (where you turned off for that loop into the park) and cheered for hours – he was there until we packed up at 11. And he wasn’t just cheering (“Good job! Keep it up!”). He seemed to actually be conversing with everyone. He’d walk a few feet with them while talking – I could see athletes laughing and smiling. He must have been wasted from his 8:39 race, but there he was, on his feet, pumping people up.
I have no idea why he was out there on the backside of the course, but even if he had to be there to get a ride home with someone, he really impressed me with the effort he put into keeping the athletes motivated. I’ll definitely be cheering for him when I see him at future races. If any of you talked to him, I’d be curious to hear what he said to you – people seemed to find it a lot funnier than my curb warning, and I could use some new material for the next race…
Noah
My wife and I were volunteers at IM AZ on Sunday (just after the mile 4 aid station – “Lookin’ good runners! Watch out for this curb…”). We were there from 4:30pm until they shut the station down just after 11pm. Around 9pm or so, I noticed an athlete standing on the side of the road near the aid station, about 50 feet from us. He had no shirt on and was just cheering people on – he looked like a runner who had dropped out, but was trying to keep other people motivated. I walked up closer and noticed his number was #32, which meant he was a pro. My wife mentioned she saw him run up to the aid station and stop, so we both assumed he had DNF’d there and was hanging out for a ride.
A while later, someone running by asked how he did, and he mentioned he came in 6th place. I looked him up when we got back and his name is Stijn Demeulemeester from Belgium. Personally, I know nothing about him (a few posts on ST mentioned he was a top AG athlete in Kona the last two years), but I want to mention that I think he’s a class act. After getting 6th, he came to the back side of the course (where you turned off for that loop into the park) and cheered for hours – he was there until we packed up at 11. And he wasn’t just cheering (“Good job! Keep it up!”). He seemed to actually be conversing with everyone. He’d walk a few feet with them while talking – I could see athletes laughing and smiling. He must have been wasted from his 8:39 race, but there he was, on his feet, pumping people up.
I have no idea why he was out there on the backside of the course, but even if he had to be there to get a ride home with someone, he really impressed me with the effort he put into keeping the athletes motivated. I’ll definitely be cheering for him when I see him at future races. If any of you talked to him, I’d be curious to hear what he said to you – people seemed to find it a lot funnier than my curb warning, and I could use some new material for the next race…
Noah