Volunteering: North Face Endurance Runs - Bear Mountain

Put in a few volunteer hours at the North Face store in the Westchester Mall today.  The NF Endurance Run 50 Miler at Bear Mountain has been on my "to do" list for years!  Alas, I'm not running it this year - but enjoyed meeting some of the runners lining up for it tomorrow morning (at 5 AM). The 50K and marathon are also run tomorrow.  The Half Marathon, 10K, and 5K races are run on Sunday.

Most of the events had sold out.  NF had close to 500 runners signed up for the 50 Miler - and about 650 runners in the 50K!  That's well over a 1000 ultra runners taking over Bear Mountain.  Those numbers are on the scale of the turnout for JFK 50 Miler!

Good luck to all the runners - at any distance - lining up at Bear Mountain this weekend :D

2017 GAE Turkey Trot: Race Photos & Results

Could not possibly have asked for better weather this morning for the 7th annual Greenwich Alliance for Education Turkey Trot 5k (and 1 mile kids fun run)!  For such a young race, they had 800 pre-registered runners + and lots more race day entrants thanks to the mini heat wave.

I volunteered, mostly course marshaling (-- managed to get a short video clip of the 5k start) and ran an easy loop of the 5k course afterwards. 

Will add a link to the results once they've been posted.

2017 NYRR Percy Sutton 5K: Volunteering

Last year I ran the Percy Sutton 5k (an initially hilly course, with a flat finish).  This year I was a volunteer and it took care of my +1 for 2017.  I had planned to run the race because it was a team points event.  But with the Sri Chinmoy Marathon on Thursday, it volunteering at the Start/Finish seemed like a much better choice :D

The absolute highlight of the morning was watching a guy get down on his knee and propose to (his totally stunned) girlfriend at the finish!  I've been at a lot of races over the years (and have heard of proposals every now and then) - but this was the first time I witnessed such a happy moment up close and personal (I was just a few feet away when it happened)!

Now I just need two more races to wrap up my 9+1 (and one will be the NYCM).  I'll probably run #8 next month (either 5th Avenue Mile or the Bronx 10 Miler).

2016 NYRR Long Training Run: Volunteering

 

This is a great photo of our start/finish line crew posted by the NYRR!  It's at the start of the Long Training Run, just before we were assigned to the corrals. After the start, we moved over to the finish line up at the 102nd Street transverse.

Volunteering this morning satisfied my +1 for the 2017 NYC Marathon 9+1 requirements.  On the race side, I only have 3 done, and 3 more on deck over the next month.  With just 6 races going into the Fall, it's seems like the slowest pace to reach 9 done that I can remember.  But I should, as in prior years, work it out that the NYC Marathon comes in as race number 9 :D

2016 Putnam County Classic 8 Miler: Race Photos & Results

 

What a great day to run a hilly 8 mile loop around Lake Mahopac - the Putnam County Classic!  Over 330 runners completed the 44th edition of the race to kick off their 4th of July celebrations!  This year the race benefitted from the very brand new Taconic Road Runner mile markers :D

Here are the race results from Taconic Road Runners.

Here are the rest of my photos up on Facebook.

Here are race photos posted by Taconic Road Runners.

2015 NYRR Volunteer Requirement: Marathon Packet Prep

This afternoon - in something of a complete surprise - I found myself at the NYRR building for my 2015 volunteer requirement.  It was just yesterday that I checked to see what opportunities were open so I could pencil in my +1 for this year.  Since each time I checked over the last few months there were no openings for packet pick-up at the NYRR office (my preferred choice), I was becoming resigned to the idea of having to volunteer at a weekend race (my plan B).

So I was practically stunned to see openings for Marathon Packet Prep that day and today (with various shifts).  I signed up and literally 24 hours later I was assembling the paperwork (various instruction sheets) that would later be added to the Marathon bags picked up by runners at the Expo.  It was interesting to be seated in the room we typically stand in to hand out bibs!  Above is photo of my little station where I complied the 4 documents and stacked them (before they were moved to trays/boxes for storage).

Now I have completed 8+1 for the 2016 NYC Marathon.  The 2015 Marathon itself will be, fittingly, race number 9 :D

2012 greenwich alliance for education turkey trot

it was a cold, blustery morning for the 2nd annual greenwich alliance for education turkey trot yesterday.  despite the colder than expected temperature, there were more than 300 finishers of the 5k race and another 200+ finishers of the one mile fun run - a substantial increase from the number of first year finishers!

like last year, i volunteered at the finish line and pulled bib tags for the scoring, which once again was by don and the lightfoot runners.  except for the seemingly unabated winds, it went off w/out a hitch - and was fun.  it's always an interesting experience to be on the other side of the finishers' chute (so to speak).  aside from the friends and familiar faces that come across the line, the best part was seeing the handful of runner who had just completed their first race!

here are the race results from hitek racing.

a few more photos posted on facebook.

volunteering at the poland spring marathon kickoff

yesterday afternoon i volunteered at the poland springs marathon kickoff pack pick-up.  it took care of my nyc marathon 9 +1 volunteer requirement.  with 8 nyrr races in the book this year, the nyc marathon next weekend will be my 9th scored race of the year and wrap up my requirements for 2012 guaranteed entry!

in a change from the past couple of years where i was assigned to the bib pick-up, yesterday i was assigned to the tee shirt distribution.  for our three hour shift (12:30-1:30) my 3 fellow volunteers and i probably handed out close to two hundred shirts (by my unscientific guess).  the time flew by and it was more fun than i thought it would be :D

two runners mentioned that the poland springs 5 miler would be their first race - ever!  chatting with them was pretty neat (as was the one runner who asked us whether he had to wear the shirt during the race).  except for the one runner who insisted that we find him an xxl (there were only xl) every runner who picked up a shirt during our shift was a pleasure to deal with :D

2012 taconic road runners club biathlon: race photos and results

i was a course marshall at the trrc biathlon this morning.  i had toyed with the idea of doing the running leg (3 miles) as part of a relay, but decided not to push my luck with back to back races.  yesterday's team championship 5 miler in central park was enough racing for this hot and humid weekend!

here are the results from trrc.

the rest of my photos are posted on facebook.

volunteering at the greenwich alliance for education turkey trot 5k/1miler

instead of volunteering at the bedford turkey trot, as i've done for the last 3-4 years, this time around i manned the finish line at the greenwich alliance for education 5k. in yet another beautiful weather day, race day registration pushed participation up to 300 runners (80 for the one mile fun run, 220 for the 5k)! that's an impressive turnout for an event that was barely on the drawing board mid-october!

the only drawback to volunteering is not getting to run the race!  but from my vantage point pulling tags for the spindle, i enjoyed myself vicariously as each runner crossed the finish.  it was a great time!

more photos posted on facebook.