Volunteer experiences, best and worst jobs

Triathlon Forum
1

What jobs are the most fun? I’ve been out on a course twice before. One was a great experience and one sucked bigtime. The one that was bad was probably due to not having enough organization and volunteers- by myself at an intersection dealing with angry motorists while trying to indicate to riders where to turn. Probably should have been a cop there. So anyway, course marshal can be hit or miss depending on staffing…

So what volunteer experiences (at a race) have you found the most rewarding?

2

Best-Playing rower for a very cute college lifeguard, I like being out in a boat anyway and spending some time with here was bonus.

Worst-Same race as above after the swim, removing timing chips from sweaty dirty racers at the finish line, really a gross job, however i was still glad to help out.

Most races I have volunteered at have had me on an aid station, this is usually pretty frantic for a while and then turns into a long day.

3

BEST:

Swim Exit - Helping swimmers up the seaweed covered ramp. Spend the swim portion in the river having fun.

WORST:

Freezie Girl - Area race used to have Jumbo freezies right at the finish line.
I ended up covered in sticky sugary crap and have never experience such rudeness before till then.

I’ve worked every part of my town’s Tri event and have the most fun out on the run course. I ride a townie bike and ensure all is going well, aid stations are stocked and get to cheer on EVERYONE!

And the post event beer is always enjoyed :slight_smile:

4

Best: Wetsuit stripper. It’s fun, doesn’t take too long, and you get to watch the rest of the race with no worries. Tip: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease” definitely applies here. Delerious swimmers will go to whoever yells the loudest, spot who you want and speak up!

Worst: Gear bag sorting, IMCDA '06. There were 3 of us left to sort 2000+ bags piled in a heap starting about 5pm. Racers were finishing, wanted their gear, and were NOT happy that it wasn’t neatly laid out for them. That was a nightmare.

5

Going on the boat at Alcatraz was fun. Until we had to get off and offload the thousand damned bags that people left on the boat, then offload them again off the truck at the finish and match them up with the swim finish bags.

Body marking is always fun. As is registration–good chance to meet a lot of people. Working the penalty tent last year in Kona was fun (and I can confirm that Belinda Halloran was very nice and not rude as someone on the other thread said).

Bag stuffing isn’t the most fun, but a necessary job. Any volunteer position where some of the athletes feel that what you are telling them doesn’t apply to them is never fun.

clm

6

For our local tri here I am usually out in a boat doing safety. I really enjoy that. Then I usually do a sweep on the course and clean up.

For most local races I can be found at the mount dismount line for the bike. That’s always a fun job.

Bad jobs are the people on the streets. Nothing worse than dealing with panicy racers and asshole drivers all at the same time.

Posting results is also a bad thing. No one is happy, everyone stinks and pushes you around wanting you to fix everything right then and there. Don’t blame the messanger and relax, it’s not that big of a deal.

7

I worked the finish line at St Anthony’s, it was cool to see and help people when they finished.
It was the first time I really got to see how fast, and how nice the professionals are.

8

Being a Corner worker on the run is not the most fun I’ve ever had. I was alone, there was no shade, there were many cluless drivers, I was there for about 5 hours waiting for the last runners to come home.

I think that being on the bike course woudl be fun though. Just because I like to check out all the bikes.

9

“Any volunteer position where some of the athletes feel that what you are telling them doesn’t apply to them is never fun.”

You sure got that right!

I think the worst volunteer spot I had was being the TZone Marshall.
Having to repeat ad nauseum that your dog/grandma/kids/spouse/posse could NOT come into the tzone was exhausting.

Cause they always answered…“oh, it’s just for a minute, go do something that helps us race”

And DQ’ing someone while IN the TZone BEFORE the race has even started is not a fun job.

10

The best volunteer experience is body marking, no question about it. Worst job is guiding people to the dismount line & telling them to dismount at the line- About 1000 times.

11

Definitely BODY MARKING. I also enjoyed finish line escort at IMH. I’ve been sweated on by some of the best…

12

Registration at Kona when they had the gear check tents outside was great. We got to meet lots and lots of people. Too bad they did away with that.

13

Best-body marker…the only time a woman will let you put your hands all over them without getting slapped:-)

Worst-cup picker-upper at an aid station. At least Gatorade cups are easy to see in the grass!

14

I forgot worst- sponge picker upper. Eeeewwww.

15

Best - patroling the run course on my bike and confirming to self how much more enjoyable riding is than running.

Worst - volunteer safety scuba diver. Sit all day on a dive boat watching swimmers while sweltering in hot dive gear and not even get to go diving.

16

lifeguard
this is my 4th year at IMLP
I like seeing the slowest swimmers face when they see 500 folks rooting them on at the swim finish
What a rush
I like that I am done early and can see all the pain :wink:

Thom.

17

Volunteered at last IM in Kona. Following FootballMom’s advise I volunteered for Bike Check-in day before; and bike catcher on race day. I had a blast. Got to meet lots of real nice people (AGs and pros) on bike check-in; and was in the middle of the action catching bikes on race day. Very cool stuff. If you bike catch at a hot weather race wear a camelback or some similar hydration system as the pace is relentless. Superb experience.

v/r

18

I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad volunteer job. It all depends on the people with you.

I have been:

  • a corner marshal for cycling, which is fun because you get to see a part of the race that most people don’t see if you are way out on the course.
  • weigh-in person at IM race. this is fun because you find out that it’s the MEN who are huge babies about the extra lbs. - not the women.
  • registration check-in… you get to greet everyone and be the first ‘official’ person that most racers come in contact with.
  • finish line medal person - everyone smiles when they get their medal!
  • T2 volunteer… really hard and intense but very rewarding too. i had to completely undress and dress several people who were incapable of doing it themselves.
  • bike course spotter… this is a really really fun job! you get to see the whole bike course… all the drafting, all the lead changes, everything. as you can imagine, this is a hard gig to get.
19

Worst - volunteer safety scuba diver. Sit all day on a dive boat watching swimmers while
sweltering in hot dive gear and not even get to go diving.

Huh. I always figured it would be cool to be a diver - just smile and wave at the few people who notice you, all the while taking in the spectacle from a pretty unique angle.

Mind you, I was the kid who just sat at the bottom of the pool like a stoner the first time I strapped on a reg…

20

Khai,

You’re obviously not a diver. Imagine sitting on a boat under the hot sun in a 7mm wet suit with heavy dive gear on your back. Drop into the cold water and it’s a great cool down, but on a boat in the sun it hurts more than bonking on an IM.

I’ve been certified since 1976. Dove all over the world (but not B.C. - best cold water diving in the world).

The wost dives are the ones you suit up for but don’t do. Sort of like showing up for a tri and then being told you can’t do it. The difference is in this case you’d only be diving looking for the body of a drowned trigeek, so it’s not so bad after all.