The RUN that's FUN for EVERYONE

...except for the people who finished the marathon while vomiting. There were a few of them. This morning I got up at 4:30 to take the train to Circular Quay. At 5:20 in the morning on a Sunday there were tons of people out and about and in the train stations. It was as busy as a weekday afternoon. About 5% of the commuters were in running gear, clearly heading to the Marathon starting point, and the rest of them were still rallying from Saturday night. I was the only girl my age not wearing high heels and a short skirt. It was pretty crazy.

Once I got to the Sydney Opera House forecourt, I joined the other marathon volunteers for a brief training. I got a cute green t-shirt with "EVENT CREW 08" on the front and the marathon logos on it. However, a child's size 16 fit me like a men's large. And I'm not that short! I also got this hat in white, and a sweatband for my head. The swag highlight for me was the two aluminum water bottles with the running festival logo on them. They're good for the environment, and I'm going to give one to my mom. (Someday I'll convince them to switch from prepackaged water bottles to a Brita pitcher!)

But on to the events of the morning! I was stationed at the Opera House forecourt, between the finish line and the recovery village set up in the Botanic Gardens. For the bulk of the morning I was on water duty, filling, stacking, and refilling cups of filtered water for the runners to pound through after making it through the finish line. It got ridiculously hectic when a) the runners drank the water faster than we could pour it and b) the ambivalent teenage girls, volunteering because their mom made them, were both unhelpful and inefficient. I was the only volunteer who understood that putting empty cups in front, where runners will grab them, and filling the cups in the back with water, doesn't make any sense. By the end of my shift I was drenched from the thigh down and I felt like I'd gotten a decent workout. It was definitely fun seeing and congratulating all the runners after they'd finished. I then did a stint helping return their belongings to them after they'd all rested and recovered, and finally returned to water duty. As the last dozen or so runners finished the marathon around the 5.5 hour mark, I and a couple of other volunteers waited at the finish line and handed them water and packets of Gu.


It was definitely an experience, tiring and invigorating. The looks on some of the runners' faces when they finished the marathon were really awesome. I realize that finishing a marathon is a lifelong goal for a lot of people, and it makes me recall my childhood, cheering on my mom as she ran the Los Angeles marathon or the Baker to Vegas relay. As I will continue to state, I'm really not a runner, but I definitely see myself attempting something like this in my life. Maybe if I keep Hashing regularly I'll be able to work up to running a 5k soon, and go from there.

When I got home, I instantly crashed for a 2 hour nap. I wanted to go swimming this afternoon but it was too cool by the time I awoke so I hit the sauna to relax my muscles. I have been dying for a massage; my back's all out of whack. Anyway, the run today raised over $1 million for charities (1)(2), and I was glad to be a part of it.

Look at all the people!

The big empty space in the middle is the post-finish-line area, and the Opera House can be seen in the upper-right corner. At this point I can be located directly at the edge of the trees, opposite the white medical tent.

Shot from the early morning walk over at 5am: