Behind the Scenes

Back in March, I was asked to be apart of the Inaugural Surfer’s path Marathon and Capitola Half race committee. I was really excited as I thought it was about time Santa Cruz held a marathon! There were two months left before the race and stress levels were high. The race director had planned many successful racing events in the past, but none so close to the date. Races are usually planned a year in advance to ensure a successful event. Due to a pending permit however, all planning was at a halt. After all, without the permission from the city, there would be no course to run on. Luckily the permit was passed, and planning began!

I was delighted to be asked to be involved as running is my passion and I absolutely adore the running community. I was given the task of Volunteer Coordinator and I also assisted with Social Media Marketing  alongside my dear friend and fellow runner Elise who is pretty much a rockstar. Not only did she work all weekend helping with details for the race, but at the last minute she decided to run the Capitola Half to boot! I won’t lie, trying to coordinate 200 plus volunteers was a bit stressful at first. Luckily, I wasn’t alone as I worked very closely with the team to ensure all areas were covered. In the past, when I thought of volunteering at a race, I would think only of aid stations or bib-pickup because that is where I usually was put. To my surprise, there are a lot more places volunteers are needed that include being on the course ensuring the runners safety, finish line and food duties, set up and tear down, expo registration, the list goes on. It seemed like at the last minute, all volunteers fell into place as we were able to recruit school groups and teams from the Santa Cruz community as well as from friends. Without the help and support of the volunteers, there would be no race and I appreciate the time that was given to make this even a success.

Big volunteer shout out’s go out to some of my awesome friends starting with my lovely friend Meg who helped us all day on Saturday at the expo at bib-pickup. Meg rocks because the next day she ran the Capitola Half and scored a major PR!

Marcia and Vinh who represented the Running Addicts were super supportive and I loved getting to know them better during the race. 

Shannon and Shila, who had to wake up in the wee hours of morning and drive over the hill just to help me out.

Fellow San Francisco Marathon Ambassador Peter who among the regular volunteer duties also kept me entertained.

And last but not least; A huge huge huge thank you goes out to my amazing beau UMM. He volunteered his whole weekend to be by my side to help out in any capacity he could. I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive guy and am so grateful that he is apart of my life! 

Anyway, I won’t bore you with all the race planning details, but needless to say, the event was very successful! The weather was perfect and everybody seemed to have a really great time and loved the course minus a few complaints of it being hilly!
As a runner in a race, I am only responsible for getting myself to the start line and run to the finish line. Certainly it can be stressful, but working behind the scenes, I learned so much right down to the smallest of details of putting on a successful race event! It was a great experience that I was so fortunate to be apart of!

Meg, Elise, Maggie, and UMM working hard at the expo

Good morning! With Meg and Elise pre expo.

Beer! It's what happens after a long day!

New Leaf was our sponsor and came through in a major way!

Top 3 Male finishers Capitola Half Marathon

 

Happy girls after completing the Capitola Half!

Marathon Maniacs and friends Shannon & Trish

Elise and I at the end of a looong weekend..

Yet, still smiling! :)