Shameless plug for Maximum Adventure!
First: http://www.maxadventure.com.au/.
Okay, so you all know I'm out with injury at the moment, boo hoo hoo. So seeing as Dave was racing at Hinze Dam today, I decided to go along and volunteer. The way I see it, I suck a lot out of the sports I do. I mean, I pay my race entry fees, but if there's a race, chances are I'm in it, so I never help out. Injury time is really the only chance I get to give something back. I emailed the race organisers on Friday to ask if they still needed people, and signed myself up.
So I scabbed a lift from the team and when they rocked up before 0600h I was feeling a bit sorry for myself as I'd only had 3 hours of sleep. You get that, I blame the TdF. Anyway we arrived nice and early and I introduced myself to Gary (race director) and the crew and immediately I thought they were awesome. They had a free race shirt and cap for every volunteer. They've got pictures of them on the site and this gear bundle would cost $55 for a competitor to purchase. Previously I've felt a bit unvalued as a race volunteer but these guys made me feel like a million bucks and the fact is, we all know that volunteers are really important and races just wouldn't happen without them.
Our first task was giving everyone their race packs, which contain the maps and route cards, the control cards, and some goodies. The field was full and they had to run two courses in order to have enough kayaks available. I saw some other people I knew at the race as they came up to register. Two guys with nice accents came along who had been planning on going climbing for the day but saw the race and wanted to enter. They had to wait until half an hour before the start, when registration closed, just in case someone didn't show up - which eventuated, and I have to say, these guys had an absolute ball.
Gary did a great job with the briefing, not wasting words at all, and throughout the race as problems arose, he remained cool and collected, which was pretty impressive. As soon as the competitors were all out on the course, he took Eve and I through the mystery course so we would know what to say to the competitors if they asked us questions. We walked onto the course and down a steep hill, and Gary left us to our own on the gorgeous single track.
The aim of the mystery course was to write down all the signposted names on the course. (Lots of people drew the water squiggles as well!) Eve and I soon found an arrow that had fallen over, so we propped the pole up with some large rocks, and then decided it'd be a good idea to walk the entire course, as we would have plenty of time and at least then we'd know it was all good. It turned out to be a very good thing, because we picked up another name sign, pulled down some dry sticks crossing the path at eye height, and found an extra sign. Yep, there were 11, not 10. So upon arriving back at the tent, we informed Gary and "The Girls" who had to quickly change all the instruction sheets.
It was a lovely walk on a lovely morning I enjoyed getting out and walking, even if it may have been pushing it for my injury... and it was great to see a race director throw in some single track - too many adventure races are all fire trail. Also, Eve told me her boyfriend's name is Steven, he speaks a bit of French and he has a three year old son, called Zac. Cute co-winky-dink! I also hung out with the Cycleogical guys for a bit because they had lots of yummy food at their tent and one of the guys had been out for a run, so we had something to chat about.
The teams were very spread out with the winners doing it in under two hours and the last team still out on the course after four hours. I had the great job of checking off the list of signposted course names as the competitors came out of the mystery course. I didn't feel good about the one pair that missed one (they didn't want to go back so I said to finish, but they might get a DNF for it, but I'd leave it up to Gary).
The race even had media coverage, which is excellent to see! (The sponsors will be very happy with that - and you might see me on Channel 9 tonight!) Afterwards, the Red Bull car showed up and handed out free drinks, and the caterers showed up with a huge supply of barbequed chicken and salads, rolls, and cake - plenty for all the competitors and crew.
Finally, when it came time for presentations, Gary set up all the prizes on the ground and the winners got to pick their prize. They had good prizes (and the tyres went in pairs, which makes a lot more sense than the single tyre I got at the 24hr), and after the placegetters got their prizes, the random draw prizes were also choose-yourself. Once it was down to bottles and caps, he just threw them into the crowd. It was rapid, and no one got stuff they didn't want.
As someone who has been royally pissed off by bad race organisation in the past, I really cannot stress the importance of having a great team. And this is a great team. It's a shameless plug I know, but if you're thinking of getting into adventure racing, please consider Maximum Adventure - you will love it!
To read more about the race, check out UCB's race report.
Okay, so you all know I'm out with injury at the moment, boo hoo hoo. So seeing as Dave was racing at Hinze Dam today, I decided to go along and volunteer. The way I see it, I suck a lot out of the sports I do. I mean, I pay my race entry fees, but if there's a race, chances are I'm in it, so I never help out. Injury time is really the only chance I get to give something back. I emailed the race organisers on Friday to ask if they still needed people, and signed myself up.
So I scabbed a lift from the team and when they rocked up before 0600h I was feeling a bit sorry for myself as I'd only had 3 hours of sleep. You get that, I blame the TdF. Anyway we arrived nice and early and I introduced myself to Gary (race director) and the crew and immediately I thought they were awesome. They had a free race shirt and cap for every volunteer. They've got pictures of them on the site and this gear bundle would cost $55 for a competitor to purchase. Previously I've felt a bit unvalued as a race volunteer but these guys made me feel like a million bucks and the fact is, we all know that volunteers are really important and races just wouldn't happen without them.
Our first task was giving everyone their race packs, which contain the maps and route cards, the control cards, and some goodies. The field was full and they had to run two courses in order to have enough kayaks available. I saw some other people I knew at the race as they came up to register. Two guys with nice accents came along who had been planning on going climbing for the day but saw the race and wanted to enter. They had to wait until half an hour before the start, when registration closed, just in case someone didn't show up - which eventuated, and I have to say, these guys had an absolute ball.
Gary did a great job with the briefing, not wasting words at all, and throughout the race as problems arose, he remained cool and collected, which was pretty impressive. As soon as the competitors were all out on the course, he took Eve and I through the mystery course so we would know what to say to the competitors if they asked us questions. We walked onto the course and down a steep hill, and Gary left us to our own on the gorgeous single track.
The aim of the mystery course was to write down all the signposted names on the course. (Lots of people drew the water squiggles as well!) Eve and I soon found an arrow that had fallen over, so we propped the pole up with some large rocks, and then decided it'd be a good idea to walk the entire course, as we would have plenty of time and at least then we'd know it was all good. It turned out to be a very good thing, because we picked up another name sign, pulled down some dry sticks crossing the path at eye height, and found an extra sign. Yep, there were 11, not 10. So upon arriving back at the tent, we informed Gary and "The Girls" who had to quickly change all the instruction sheets.
It was a lovely walk on a lovely morning I enjoyed getting out and walking, even if it may have been pushing it for my injury... and it was great to see a race director throw in some single track - too many adventure races are all fire trail. Also, Eve told me her boyfriend's name is Steven, he speaks a bit of French and he has a three year old son, called Zac. Cute co-winky-dink! I also hung out with the Cycleogical guys for a bit because they had lots of yummy food at their tent and one of the guys had been out for a run, so we had something to chat about.
The teams were very spread out with the winners doing it in under two hours and the last team still out on the course after four hours. I had the great job of checking off the list of signposted course names as the competitors came out of the mystery course. I didn't feel good about the one pair that missed one (they didn't want to go back so I said to finish, but they might get a DNF for it, but I'd leave it up to Gary).
The race even had media coverage, which is excellent to see! (The sponsors will be very happy with that - and you might see me on Channel 9 tonight!) Afterwards, the Red Bull car showed up and handed out free drinks, and the caterers showed up with a huge supply of barbequed chicken and salads, rolls, and cake - plenty for all the competitors and crew.
Finally, when it came time for presentations, Gary set up all the prizes on the ground and the winners got to pick their prize. They had good prizes (and the tyres went in pairs, which makes a lot more sense than the single tyre I got at the 24hr), and after the placegetters got their prizes, the random draw prizes were also choose-yourself. Once it was down to bottles and caps, he just threw them into the crowd. It was rapid, and no one got stuff they didn't want.
As someone who has been royally pissed off by bad race organisation in the past, I really cannot stress the importance of having a great team. And this is a great team. It's a shameless plug I know, but if you're thinking of getting into adventure racing, please consider Maximum Adventure - you will love it!
To read more about the race, check out UCB's race report.
posted by Tamyka at 2:55 PM
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