Mrs. That Dan Guy and I volunteered yesterday, with the HSBC Calgary Marathon, in support of Team Diabetes. It was an early day, requiring us to be onsite before 8:o0 AM!! 8:00 AM!!

So early, I had to say it twice...

Our location was the Aid Station. Our Mission - pretty much helping to hydrate runners. We were handing out prefilled cups of water and/or Gatorade ("Ading Gators Since 1982"), depending on what the runner was gasping for.

And provide encouragement, verbal ditties like "Wow, you're looking good", "Great job, keep it going", or "Hey, did you know Britney Spears hit her mother with a restraining order?"

Anything that would motivate them to keep running, essentially...

I asked if we should be encouraging the slackers dragging along at the very end of the race, and was told absolutely. In my head though, I scolded them for dragging their heels...

We were also warned not to TOUCH any of the runners. Well, come on! Groddy!! These people are all hot and sweaty - why WOULD you touch them??

We were also required to be on the lookout for any runners that may have needed medical assistance. I was drifting off by that time in the instructions, and had found myself wondering where the mini-donuts may have been located...

Once the runners hit our station, it was pandemonium. Gatorade flyin' everywhere, water getting poured over tired, sweaty heads. And for a Gatorade stand, we were givin' the stuff away! Not much of a summer job there.

It was all over (for our station) by 11:30. Just a ghost town of empty paper cups, and worn tracks in the dirt road. It really wasn't a dirt road, but I thought that the dirt road made for a better visual image...

We went home, and crashed - exhausted. Marathons are hard, man...

Chow for now!!