MCRRC
Greenway Trail
Marathon
March 1, 2008
Damascus, MD
Information &
Feedback for
Volunteers
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MCRRC Information & |
Thanks To the Wonderful 2008 Volunteers Thanks much to the wonderful volunteers on Saturday.. The Greenway Marathon and 50K is a great event. It was warm and sunny. no. wait. it was cold and cloudy! no. wait. It was warm and sunny. no. wait... anyway, thanks for a great day (even if I was not able to go the distance. next year!) I wanted to thank you and the volunteers for doing such a great job of putting on the Greenway Trail Marathon & 50K this year. In a last-minute moment of probable insanity, I decided to go for the 50K -- took it slow and finished strong (although I think that between the all-trail motif and my level of training, it was tougher than the JFK). But even if I brought up the rear, it was a LOT of fun and was amazingly well organized. Thanks! That said, thanks again for being the heart of this activity. Bob Yarchoan PS: The caps are great -- it will be my prized hiking hat! PSS: The bow-hunters are going to have to do a better job next year of thinning the deer along the trail. Thanks for a great race. I'm really happy you put on a race without stringent time cutoffs. I'm glad the Bliss family can go out there and do the whole course together. Angelo Hi Ed, I just wanted to send you a note thanking you and your team for a wonderful event. The course and support were great. This was my first true trail race and I really enjoyed it. I have a lot to learn. I look forward to running it again next year. Best Regards, Chris Ed, the race as always was great --- new 50k PR for me by more than 10 minutes this year ... wow! Mark Zimmermann Now I know what you mean! Just wanted to say THANKS for a great event. Volunteers were great, always helpful and encouraging. Looking forward to next year. One of the aid station volunteers told me the marathon course was actually about 28 miles.....sure felt like it! Brian I ran the 50k and had a great time. I was soo impressed by the organization. Everything ran very smoothly. The volunteers were incredible. They were everywhere on the course. All of them were enthusiastic and full of energy. Same with the aide stations they were well stocked and full of great people. Even at the finish, as I was hobbling around, a volunteer came way out of his way and walked with me for a while. You put together a great event and had a lot of really great people helping out. Thanks Ted Bradley Once again another great year for the run. The weather was perfect for running although a bit chilly for the volunteers but they all did an amazing job being out there. Thanks for all your hard work and the volunteers in putting this together. I really enjoyed myself. Suzie Just a quick note to thank you and all your volunteers last Saturday for making the race very enjoyable. The crew at 28 gave a great peep show and Berryville volunteer filled my bottle with Mountain Dew for the last two miles - what a boost. Oh - can't forget the little girl who gave us all a hug as we went across the creek after Watkins Road. Nurse Joyce and I came across the lady hit by the deer about a 1/4 mile from Huntmaster Road. Even though she said she was all right, Joyce fretted over her until we got to Huntmaster and told the volunteers she was coming. Please let all your helpers know they were really great. Thanks again. Linda I'll just add my voice to what must be a growing list of kudos for a wonderful event for the club and the participants. The army of volunteers this year was unsurpassed and were there helping with every little thing that could have come up (and I'm sure they did what they could about the deer incident!). I might not have been doing my best in physical terms but wouldn't have missed this for anything! Thanks again. hi! great day for the race, eh?! thanks to you and all the volunteers for helping make such a pleasant race for us all What a wonderful group of volunteers you had at the Greenway 50k, many thanks to all of them. Thank you for the well marked course, plentiful aid, and very amusing signs…peeps are great! I’m sorry I did not have an opportunity to talk more with you after the event; we had an appointment in northern Virginia yesterday afternoon. Thanks again and please pass on my appreciation to all of the volunteers. Derrick Carr Thanks for a great race. It was way worth the trip from Iowa. I ran and finished the 50K, not the marathon. The results for me are wrong. I went in the wrong chute, and told the person there that I was a 50K person not a marathoner, but you could certainly check the check sheet after the Lake Loop. Dave Swenson Thank you so much for having me at your race yesterday. Everything was perfect. You and your volunteers put on a great race. Thank you for all of your efforts. Please thank your volunteers for me. They are very special people. Regards Gregg Great race. You team did a wonderful job for us. Alex and I felt that the run exceeded our expectations for our first 50k. Thanks, Tom and Alex O'Donnell To the great Parking Volunteers and Shuttler’s that came out to help on Saturday morning, I want to say thank you very much for your help. You all did a great job. I thought everything ran super smooth, despite the hiccups the poor volunteers were dealing w/out on Old Seneca Road which was not within their control. Thanks for your help. I really appreciated it and so did the runners. I would love to have you back next year to help again. Keep this race in mind when selecting possible volunteer opportunities. If I forgot to give you a t-shirt, let me know and we can make handoff arrangements. Thank you, Kimberly you sure are organized. Everything worked perfectly. I am so impressed. The volunteers were great. I wished my body worked that well. I am so sore. I liked the peep show. At first I thought how silly & then I started looking forward to them. They really helped with the way to go also. You just looked ahead for the white signs. The food at 355, Route 28 & Berryville was really good. I just wanted to thank you for a great race. I really enjoyed it. The volunteers were great and the course was very well marked. Great job. I'm attaching a course profile if you'd like to use it for future races. Have a great weekend! Best, Josh Hunsberger Want to second Maria's thoughts. Thanks, for all of your efforts to put the Greenway 50K and marathon together, and a big thank you to your fantastic group of volunteers. What a well-run event, from beginning to end. This was my second time at Greenway, and my first time actually seeing the trail (after that highly entertaining ice and mud show last year). What an outstanding trail; I'm envious of all of you up in the DC area who have ready access on a regular basis to the great resource that is the Greenway Trail. Gotta run, I must say that I had a lot of fun running your race this year. This is my kind of trail run. I loved the course, but I have to ask how many miles it truly is? It has to be more than 50K... I thought for a while that I would never make it to the starting line. First I discovered that my race shoes had tears on both inseams. Not a problem I'd brought a back up pair. Then while leaving the car to catch the bus to the start I accidental locked my 3 year old son inside. Big problem - hence the huge fire truck at the parking session. Karen who was volunteering and directing traffic around the parking session was kind enough to let me borrow her cell phone and her AAA card. Thanks to Karen and thanks to GOD that the cell service actually worked in the area (I'm told that it's spotty at best). The rest of the volunteers at the event were great too. Those cans of Coke at the finish really hot the spot. Also a big thanks to three local runners Marianna, Linda and Joyce who gave me a ride to the start. You put on an awesome event and I was happy to get to the start, and the finish. Cheers, Harry Madison, NJ I just wanted to say thank you to you and the volunteers who helped to put on the race on Saturday. Also to the man (in the Red Ford Ecort) who stayed with me until Lazarus (my car) and I were safely loaded into the tow truck and the people who stopped to see if they could help with my car (if you could pass along the message of thanks and let him know I'm okay that'd be fabulous -I'm not sure of his name). Apparently the starter was bad so my car wouldn't start after the race. Even the tow truck couldn't get it started and the only place open Saturday afternoon was NTB - and their mechanics had already gone home so they wouldn't be able to look at it until Sunday and if they didn't have the part... might not be able to fix it until Monday or Tuesday! We ended up taking my car up on a hill (the largest one the tow truck driver could think of in Germantown) and pop-started it (good thing I drive a manual car!) and I pumped gas for the first time in my life with the car running and got back to church safely (I was late, but I was there in Virginia!). Afterwards some friends ran around the parking lot pushing my car until it was fast enough to pop-start it in the parking lot. NTB and the tow truck driver estimated it to be ~200+ to replace the starter... and it turned out a friend of mine from church (mechanic) lived with a family who already... (randomly) had a starter for the make/model car that I have! They gave it to me and he was able to replace it by 11:50 that night (I was napping on the couch for the 30 minutes it took him to change it). Lazarus is doing fine so far - I did find out one of my headlights' lamps went out so I need to get a new bulb, but I can do that myself. It was definitely God watching out for me the entire day Saturday. I ended up running the 50k, because if you're going to run 27-28 miles anyway... why not just run the extra 3-4 and do a 50k? It was fun, I think I like trails better than road races for sure. I am thinking about doing another 50k in WV in May. I still want to do a century before I turn 30. Well, that's my little car story. The lady getting hit by the deer was pretty crazy. I've never seen anything like it. Thankfully she's okay! All right, hope all's well up in Maryland. It was great to meet a new group of crazies (I think anyone who wants to run a marathon/more than a marathon has to be a little crazy to start it!) to run with. Hopefully I'll see some of you all again. Thanks for getting me to the finish line before the bus left that morning as well! Have a good day, toodles! thanks for putting together such a fun race. it was my first marathon (or marathon-plus) and i had a great time. it was so inspiring that i actually went out and bought a box of peeps to eat afterwards... everything seemed seamlessly organized, the volunteers were awesome, and the fellow runners were all kind-spirited and encouraging. i definitely hope to be back next year, hopefully for the 50K! if not, at least to volunteer. happy trails, laren rusin Hey, thanks for getting in touch. What a crazy day. I never even saw the deer, the people around me started to echo, she's just been hit by a deer. The deer blindsided me from the left and all I ever saw was some brown fur. The people on the couse running were so sweet, didn't want to interfere with their running and told them to please keep going. Michelle and Gillian were so wonderful. Anyway, the left shoulder is badly busted and the right clavicle may be fractured. I go to the orthopedic doctor tomorrow. You always hear freaky stories and don't know the players, wish i didn't know this one, would love too have finished your race. Thanks for writing. What a beautiful course, maybe next year. Mindy The volunteers are fantastic. They provided great support which is surpassed by none. Respectfully, Pete Pontzer I wanted to get back to you saying what a great time I had last Saturday. I was the fellow walking back to the finish line trying to find the guy I drove down with. You were going to drive me back, but I hopped a ride with another runner who was going that way. This was my first trail race and it definitely will not be my last. I was supposed to just use it as a training run for Boston, but as the race progressed I got into the moment and ran a little harder then planned. My only point of concern was when I finally came off of the trail and to the road to bring you to the finish line I couldn't find any marker showing me which way to go. I looked around for the green and yellow ribbons that had marked the course but couldn't see any. I actually ran the wrong way for about 150 yards. It wasn't any big deal as I obviously found my way home. The volunteers at the aid station were great. They quickly filled my water bottles so I could keep on going. I especially liked the way you handled the start. It was a little chilly and windy. A lot of race directors would have rambled on, as this is their time in the sun. You were quick and to the point and got us going. That was very much appreciated. Michael Iacobucci Volunteers: You are awesome. All of you. Thank you for your time and effort, without you these events cannot occur. I never cease to be amazed at the dedication and support shown by the volunteers at every race, and you kept that trend alive and strong. From those flagging cars into the parking lot to those serving at the post race cookout, and everyone in between, I give a heartfelt thank you. Brian Nist Information for Volunteers
Equipment, Supplies, Hydration and Fuel Equipment, Supplies, Hydration and Fuel: For road crossings: (course marshals): a minimum of two safety vests and flags that will be dropped off at your assigned area usually this means they are close to the trailhead sign or right on the trail at a point very close to where it intersects the road ( you may need to check both sides of the street.) For aid stations: You should notice at least the following: one table, at least two big Gatorade-type jugs one for water and one for a sports drink marked with duct tape (probably succeed Ultra-Orange), Most times these will be filled and mixed), extra large jugs of water (amount varies), a pitcher and large spoon with which to make additional sports drink, Succeed electrolyte capsules (probably in a plastic sandwich baggie) , bagels for some, chairs for some (sorry we do not have many only about five in the shed), a roster of runners (with clipboard and pen), safety vests and red flags (only for aide stations that are also road crossings such as Brink Road), minor first aid kit, either space blankets of army blankets in cardboard boxes, trash bags, paper towels, some junk food (nothing healthy), paper cups (for you not the runners) and more will be delivered to your aid stations. Most of the supplies and food will be put inside the large trash can. There may be some large bottles of soda and paper cups. These are mainly for you. If you decide to let runners have some coke under no circumstances let them leave your station with a cup in hand. For the start and registration: You should notice at least the following:, at least two big Gatorade-type jugs one for water and one for a sports drink marked with duct tape (probably succeed Ultra-Orange), Most times these will be filled and mixed), extra large jugs of water (amount varies), a pitcher and large spoon with which to make additional sports drink, a stack of applications, clipboards, pens, the petty cash box, box of large trash bags ( mainly to be used as makeshift space blankets), another stash of mid size trash bags and some magic markers to be used for runners that want to send items to the finish area, a few printed out course descriptions, minor first aide, red flags to help with parking, extra toilet paper, paper towels, extra water and sports drink mix. For the finish: You should notice at least the following:, at least two big Gatorade-type jugs one for water and one for a sports drink marked with duct tape (probably succeed Ultra-Orange), Most times these will be filled and mixed), extra large jugs of water (amount varies), a pitcher and large spoon with which to make additional sports drink, at least two of the larger folding tables, at least four padded folding chairs, two charged timing machines, walkie talkies, bottles of soda and cups, first aide, order of finish cards, two sets of finish line chutes to include stanchions, sometimes banners from our sponsors, junk food, trash can and liners, space blankets or old army blankets, For the picnic: You should notice at least the following:, at least two big Gatorade-type jugs one for water and one for a sports drink marked with duct tape (probably succeed Ultra-Orange), Most times these will be filled and mixed), extra large jugs of water (amount varies), a pitcher and large spoon with which to make additional sports drink, as many tables and chairs as can be found, 2 to 3 barbeque grills, charcoal, starter and barbeque tools, whatever food and drinks that are on the menu, cleaning supplies, paper goods ( plates, bowls, cups, silverware,) condiments (salt, pepper, catsup, mustard,?), several extension cords, awards, handouts (sponsor materials, ads for other marathons, etc), tablecloths if I can find them. Aid Stations Road Crossings What will be there: For road crossings (course marshals): we have safety vests and flags that will be dropped off at your assigned area. If there is another way to get these to you just let me know. We will probably have water dropped off at Watkins (not Watkins Mill), Riffleford Roads and Route 118 but not at the other road crossings. They are either too close to the start or too close to an aid station with water. I wish I had more chairs to bring to you course marshals, hopefully you have a light folding chair you can bring. Please bring your cell phones, a pad of paper or something to write on, something for you to do (book, crossword, and portable radio), warm clothes and food and drinks for yourselves. I will need the cell phone number of at least one volunteer at each point along the course (Aid Stations and road crossings). Some have asked what they can bring to an aid station and some have told me they are bringing some items. You do not have to but if you want, the following can be useful: any food you want to get rid of (runners will eat anything but probably prefer the most: sandwiches cut into quarters such as PBJ, turkey, turkey and cheese, some with mayo and some without, fruit, crackers, pretzels, any kind of candy, etc). If in doubt, get in touch with me. You could have a few bottles of Mountain Dew and Coke, some de-fizzed (flat) and some normal. Really, do not go to any trouble and do not feel compelled to do this. I am not encouraging anyone to go out and buy things or to prepare food items. I plan on dropping off boiled potatoes and salt at the aid stations. You are doing enough already. I prepared this list in response to some of you who said you wanted to do more. Most runners will only want a small portion if that and less at the beginning half (before the lake). Besides that, if we treat them too good they will keep coming back just like the geese. Do encourage the runners to take water or fluid replacement but allow them to choose. We are not providing paper cups for runners. They are all supposed to have water bottles or hydration systems (I will give you some cups for you to use and you can let some of the runners use them but let’s keep this a secret.) Do not apply first aid even minor band aids if you do not have to. Let the runners have access to alcohol wipes, cotton and Band-Aids and the like. If you do decide to help and I am discouraging this; use the disposable gloves you will see in the kit. This is for everyone’s safety. Anything that seems serious at all- defer to the 911 system. Really be clear about this. Call 911 then call me. If in the park you can also use the park service and rangers for emergencies. Please also remember to bring something for yourself and the other volunteers. A radio, warm clothes, maybe something warm to drink or eat for yourself, rain gear just in case, a folding chair, are all good for starters. Also bring the course description so you can answer questions like how far is it to the next road crossing or aid station. If the runners say things like this last section was not 2 miles or so, tell them to see me. Key Things To Do:
Parking and Shuttling Runners from the Finish to the Start I am asking that those volunteers that are helping here wear vests and help direct runners to good parking places. We want to use all lots to about 80% capacity (except the NPS lot) so other trail users can also use them. Hopefully there are no other activities planned for the same day down there. We will next start transporting runners to the start to begin registration. It would help a lot if I can give those of you who have volunteered to transport runners in your cars to the start some clipboards and registration papers so this process can start while you are transporting the runners to the start. It will work out best to take a few car loads as they come in, and then in the middle let the Camp Calleva folks take their bus loads of runners and then keep about 3-4-5 cars for stragglers up to 7:00 at the latest. I am telling them 6:45 is the latest but I suppose 2 or 3 of you could wait till 7:10 at the latest if you want to have pity on them. But please do not let this out. Then they will come later. Kimberly knows how to do everything down there so just check with her. There will be clipboards and registration materials for Camp Calleva’ buses as well. I would appreciate it if some of you can hang around Damascus for a while and assist with registering runners. We will need to register runners and collect money for 250 in about 45 minutes although most should come with their application already completed. As far as parking the big rules are:
Runners can bring extra clothes to the start but they do so at their own risk. Unfortunately some clothing got lost last year (and I have some in my trunk still). If they do this, I will have a few bags and some magic markers but please reinforce that we do want to help but there is some risk. We will not take clothes or other items to aid stations for runners. At the start, there will be a crew there to help with registration and to help runners (give them water; tell them where the Jiffy John is, point out the trail, etc). The start should be set up and operational by 6:45, 6:30 would be better. Some runners might mention that they already have a bib number. Please tell them that this race is different. IF they have further questions, direct them to the registration table at Damascus. The Start Area Volunteers at the start will be taking care of the following:
We will need to process registration very quickly. As noted above Bill, George, and Jack will take the lead here as far as registration and check in. Paul Foster will coordinate all other volunteer activities. Just help in any way you can. Equipment will have been delivered. Tables will need to be set up as will water, sports drink, etc., and I am sure they will need all of you. There will be three Jiffy Johns (two are just for the women) so some thought in processing runners here needs to occur as well. I really, really do not want to trash the park in anyway whatsoever. Remember no water bottle or hydration system- no run. (I have some spares in my trunk). About 7:45 or so I would appreciate a handful of volunteers or at least one or two and one on a bike who know the trail to be on standby to help guide runners into the trail. One year Rob Magin and some of the lead pack beat the volunteer to the Magruder Branch trailhead so we have to leave even earlier this year. I want to string you all out going from the picnic area to the entrance to the Magruder Branch Side Trail. If someone wants to bring a bike that will work as well. Unless you can run faster than Rob Magin you will need a bike or to leave at least by 7:50. If one or two could make sure that everything is picked up that would help very much. Bill, Jack and George need to take the registration materials with them to the finish line. If there is anything that you think is valuable try to give it to George. Bagged runner clothes will need to be transported to the finish. I can take some but not all. Other than that our two ace truck drivers will be back in a few hours to pick things up. If anyone could take left over food, water and/or sports drink to some aid stations further down the course that would help. It might go to waste otherwise. The Finish Parts One and Two The finish line is down Tshiffley Road right before those big piles of dirt. Equipment, supplies and some banners will be there. Please help set these up. George, Bill and Jack are running the show down there. There will be two finish lines chutes this year: one for the marathon runners and one for the 50-K runners. Most likely we will have Fire and Rescue personnel and equipment there. There will be another CPR/first aid person there as well. The other volunteers here are really important even if you have a lot of down time. The picnic area is in the Camp Outerquest/Calleva building right up from the canal on the Riley’s Road side of Seneca Creek. Mary Lou O’Brian and Anton Struntz are running the show down there. They will need help cooking, setting up, cleaning, and taking care of runners, etc., etc. They need a strong team. We will have an awards ceremony in the rear of the Camp Calleva building. Please try to attend. It would be greatly appreciated if some volunteers could bring food and drinks from the picnic to the volunteers at the finish line every 30-45 minutes. Vicki Kendal will be in charge of passing out shorts (good luck Vicki).I will try to see if the walkie talkies can be available so the two finish areas can be in communication with each other. Key things to take care of at the picnic:
The Lake Aid Station Photography Medical Plan/Emergency First Aid: We have communications at nine checkpoints. Combined with a sweeper team with cell phones, 100% runner accountability can be provided. We have alerted the County’s EMT department. We have advised the runners of the potential risks, asked that they alert race management of any special medical or safety issues and will work hard to accommodate any special needs. We will have minor first aid kits (and disposable gloves) at the aid stations and some road crossings. Volunteers are expected to assess emergencies and potential emergency situations quickly with an obligation to involve the 911 system as needed. For less severe situations, volunteers are advised to offer runners minor first aid. Volunteers are further advised to avoid contact with blood or other bodily fluids Trail Flagging Good trail flagging provides the racers with a clear idea of where they are going, where not to go and consequently serve as confidence boosters. We are using both green and yellow engineering ribbon. This is to prevent any ambiguity as there can be other flagging in various portions of the trail corridor. In flagging a trail section, keep the following in mind.
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