The Monumental Marathon

Yesterday, I volunteered at a water stop for the the first Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. I had never been a water stop volunteer before, and it was fun.

All and all, the monumental people had it set up pretty nicely. They dropped off all the needed equipment (water, tables, cups, Gatorade, trash containers) right on the street where we set it up, and then came back to get it later.

After dipping all the cups, I was a water girl, meaning I handed cups of water to runners as they ran by. This is a more difficult job than you might think. There was a definite technique that was communicated to us (holding the cup from the top rim to leave as much surface area for the runner to grab as possible). The first few times I tried the hand off resulted in major spills. I'm sure the elite runners really didn't get any water during the race. Later, I learned the true technique. Make eye contact with the runner, let them signal to you that they are taking your cup, then the hand off goes much more smoothly.

I met some cool people at the water stop. And I even saw a runner I new from work who came in 38th in his age category. Pretty cool! And, my weatherman Paul Poteet also ran by the water stop, but I think he went to the Gatorade table.