Volunteering for the Strider Marathon Aid Station .....
by Tom Magill

So far in my brief but eventful life I have survived one hurricane, one tornado, and four marathons. If I can keep things from breaking I would like to do New York and Chicago once more.

A few years ago when I was not quite ready to do a marathon, I took the plunge and volunteered to work the Strider water stop for Chicago. Up at 4, on the road by 5, to be at the 24 mile marker no later than 6AM. There with over a hundred other volunteers in the pre dawn darkness, I found 30 tables ready to be set up - 15 water and 15 Gatorade soon to be stacked high, ready for the thousands of runners that would be running without me. The lead pack came past at under 2 hours and then it was 3 to 4 hours with cups of water held high and cheering everyone on.

After giving aid and support to the walking wounded and those who crashed it was time to clean up and enjoy a picnic lunch. What a treat it was to watch Shirley Kowalisyn run alongside as many runners as possible through the water stop telling them "You are looking good!" " Only 2 more miles!" You can do it!" " You are Awsome!" All that I could add was- 2 to go and then it's Miller Time. I knew then I had to do it next year and did.

For some unknown reason, the Strider water stop got moved to mile 5. That made us wonder how we would like such a big change. The setting up was no different but the lead pack was there in 25 minutes with the other 40,000 runners not far behind. Now as our work is finished in only 2 hours! We have time to go to other points of the race and cheer on all the OE'ers and Striders that we can find. This year we went directly to the finish area arriving before the 3 hour runners were across the line.

Working mile 24 was great but now we like 5 even better. No picnic lunch as we are finished by 10:00AM, but just before the race started we were treated to coffee, hot chocolate, donuts, bagels and cookies donated by McDonalds, Family Express, Panera, and the Mangel Family.

Our Calumet Region Strider Club and all the races we do could not happen without so many people donating their time and effort without any expectation of reward or compensation. So the next time it's your turn to feel "not quite ready to race", be a volunteer ! You will be glad you did. One final thought - We do hear and really appreciate "thank you volunteers" coming from the runners as they pass by. Our payment in full.

Tom Magill