Aid Stations and Course Directing

As mentioned earlier, my husband is the course director this year. God bless him! He is still trying to balance work with finalizing the aid station captains. I gladly offered to help him since I am out of work now.

He did much of the foot work and had everything well on its way. Last night we sat down, (many evenings are spent discussing or making plans for the race) and discussed what he needed help with. We sent out a few emails and set up a few spreadsheets, and now he is feeling much better. We have 90% of our aid stations confirmed and are just waiting to hear back from a couple with a final confirmation. We have many volunteers that graciously volunteer year after year, and they have made our job easier.

This year we have recruited 4 "crew leaders" to be in charge of 3-4 aid stations each. Breaking the course up into sections will hopefully make it more manageable come race day. Our goal is that Marc can be on the course for emergencies. He is also in charge of putting out the mile markers...something that we really want to get right this year! So if he has crew leaders to deliver supplies and ensure the aid stations are prepared, he can tackle the task of placing the mile markers, at about 4am. Yikes. Many have told us to plan on taking Tuesday off from work because the entire weekend is late nights and early mornings. I don't take time off (1 day last year) so I will shuffle through the work week. Side note: I have such a hard time getting a sub. My students know they can depend on me, "even if my leg is dangling behind me!" I tell them that often. I am sure all of the excitement will keep us both going.

I have learned a lot from race directing this year, but one of the main things is to delegate. I am one that likes to take on too much, do it myself, and make sure it gets done right; however, I have found that many others can do things very well, and sometimes, better. I love to see and hear the passion that people have about their jobs, whether it be Kids' Races or the speaker for the prerace dinner. People are passionate about this race and it is great.

Off to weed the yard and hang out with my girls. Ahhh, summer time is fantastic.