But this race was today...-1C and snowing.
Good thing we had lots of forewarning on that forecast.
Tina and I signed up a few weeks ago to volunteer for the Women of Wonder Superheroes Run. Thanks to the online sign-up, we were soon on the volunteer list. Why didn't we run it, you ask...well, I'm a bit burnt out on racing right now and had been thinking I was ready for a short running hiatus to heal up that persistent hammock injury...and when I mentioned volunteering to Tina, she was right on board.
In fact, we almost immediately had ideas for superhero costumes. That's the beauty of having so many sparkle skirts...makes it easy to come up with costumes on the fly.
All I needed to do was make myself a bat logo. Thank goodness for Pinterest, permanent markers and fun foam. Oh...and Value Village...girl can't sew so she has to buy a cape, y'know.
and a run wardrobe that consists of lots of black and sparkle skirts in a variety of colours (something I am convinced is VITAL to the spur of the moment costume creation)
When I woke up this morning, I could hear the rain...and by the time I hit the road...it was snow.
The car had a nice coating of slush by the time I got to Eau Claire.
But Batmommy (as Buggie had dubbed me last night) was ready to be a course marshall for the very first time!
SpideyFab arrived shortly after I did and we grabbed coffee, made costume adjustments and nabbed someone to snap our photo
We checked in as volunteers and were instructed on where we needed to go. We were going to be at the turnaround for the 10k - way out at 29th street. Originally, we had planned to run out there, but with the turn in the weather - we thought it better if we parked at Tri-it and walked the couple of blocks. Better to stay warm and dry if we were going to be standing in falling slush for an hour.
Lucky for us, there was a group running out of Tri-it that let us pop in to use the washroom before we hiked in to our post.
We had been told to look for the big orange "candlestick"...I'm not sure if I'd qualify this as "big" but it was the right place.
I had a feeling a chunk of our job was going to be scraping the sign.
We knew the field for this race was pretty small (less than 30 runners in the 10k) so we spent a lot of time waiting and looking at this.
and this
The race started at 10 and the first runner got to us really quickly...so quickly it surprised us! But soon we had a couple more. And then we had another volunteer on a bike come by...and we were quick to ask if that was it! We knew the race was small but were there really that many no-shows?
He assured us that he was just making sure we hadn't frozen to death. Our feet were wet and cold, but we were otherwise warm. Then he took some photos for us and told us he'd be back to relieve us after the last runner.
Soon, the main pack was on us and we were having fun cheering them on.
and then Batman showed up and I quipped about wanting a photo and he actually stopped for me :) Guess that's the beauty of the fun run - no timing means you can have a bit more fun with it all.
Hey - don't judge my fannypack. Even Batmommy needs a utility belt!
Soon, the lulls between runners were getting pretty long. So we amused ourselves with more snow photos and cheering on random runners who dragged their butts outta bed to run their long runs.
and then, when the stream of runners dried up, we waited until our toes nearly froze off and finally two cyclists arrived to relieve us and pick up our signs.
We dashed back to Tri-it and the warmth of Tina's car. The runners who had let us use the washroom before were just packing up after their run and they were so enthusiastic about us volunteering in such nasty conditions that they gave us muffins!
mmm...peach oatmeal. Tasted like heaven!
Then we headed back to Eau Claire to see the post-race festivities and enjoy our costumes in warmer conditions.They had a nice little spread for post-race food. Water (and Emergen-C, that as a first at a race for me), juice, pop, halloween candies, scones and muffins from Good Earth, coffee. There was also a table selling jewelry in support of Servants Anonymous (the benefactor of the race).
ok - it didn't look this blurry when I snapped it
As a thanks for volunteering, they gave us race shirts and novelty costume ties
Tina gave me hers for the girlies dressup box
Short sleeve tech shirts (I'm wearing over a longsleeve)
All in all - I think my first race volunteer experience was a pretty fun one. And this race - well it may be small, but it was super fun as a Halloween-season costume race. Not everyone dressed up, but there was still a pretty nice showing of superheroes out there. I loved that they had 5 &10k distances AND a 2.5k for the kiddos. The shirts are nice and while the course is pretty standard Eau Claire fare, it is a simple out and back and, on a day where the weather shows up like this one did, it is good to know that when you turn around, you are officially closer to the finish than to the start.And now I kinda hope the race runs again next year so I can actually RUN it! I'm already picturing my costume.
Until then...
