Let's hear how everyone's doing!
Me, I worked my running club's annual 3-miler last week, rather than running it. Assignment #1 was registration. Then it was on to assignment #2, the men's finish chute. I heard one of the more experienced volunteers breathe a sigh of relief ("...I'm so glad I'm working the women's"), but wasn't sure what she meant.
What she meant was that the men's chute gets a bit, well, gross.
Fortunately, it was an unseasonably cool evening, so it wasn't as gross as it might have been. No one threw up, for starters. But boy, I sure did encounter a lot of sweat and snot and saliva as I ripped off those tags. Somewhere along the way, it dawned on me that this was probably not the best assignment for someone with a chemo-impaired immune system. Too late to worry about that - I just made sure to wash my hands aferwards.
(And no, this isn't an anti-male rant. It was just a new perspective on racing for me. It was also interesting to see the boneheaded things that people do at the finish that make volunteers crazy - and to find myself doing a few boneheaded things myself that no doubt made the runners crazy. Like chirping a perky, "Hey, great race!" to a friend who was doubled over trying to catch her breath, and acting as though I expected her to smile and say, "gee, thanks.")