VOLUNTEERING - London Ultra 50K - 17th February 2013

Race Marshalling at the London 50K Ultra Marathon - Checkpoint 4

Sunday, 17th February 2013 - I volunteered for marshalling at the London 50K Ultra. I pretty much knew the routing of this event because I have taken part as a runner in previous years - 2011 and 2012. I would have liked to have run this event again this year but there were no more entries allowed so instead I opted for the marshalling duty.

The route travels through Streatham Common, Wandsworth Common, Wimbledon Park, Syon Park, Richmond Park and other scenic spots and finishes at Perivale Track. Luckily the FINISH 'Perivale Track' is very close to home, so thought the final check-point would be ideal.

 The 50K route starts at the City Of London Playing Fields [Grove Park] and follows the Capital Ring walking route around South-West London.

 

Checkpoint 4 - Exact location was Richmond Lock and Weir

 

My Gear - London AZ, Bottle Water & CAKES!

CAKES almost FINISHED................ (^-^)

I had promised myself I'd make some of my new cup cake recipes 'Lemon Drizzle' to take along for my marshalling duties; which meant I was furiously baking on the evening before the event. Had a fabulous time combining my love for baking and running.  I was so impressed when I pulled the last batch out of the oven. They looked ever so delicious and made the whole kitchen smell absolutely yummy! When the last piece of cutlery was finally washed up it was 1am and I just about made it to my bed before I dosed off with exhaustion.  It was yet another early morning start, and the cupcakes were there in my kitchen, surprisingly I hadn’t eaten any ‘accidently’ during the night.  

Our duties did not start until 11.15a, but never the less I was there bright and early for 9.30am and much to my dismay I was alone and freezing my butt off. No one was around at that time – guess I was overly enthusiastic about sharing my cupcakes and got there too early. Our team of marshals eventually turned up around 10am - Wayne Sarten, Graham Kehily & Jake Wilson....

The guys started laying out the snacks and drinks around the table that Wayne had built from the gear he bought with him. He’d had to collect the checkpoint gear from the FINISH Line where the runners had met to take the bus to the Start Line earlier on in the morning and he then had to haul it over to where we were. Only one thing he'd forgotten and that was the black bin bags but Graham eventually sorted that out. Good on you Graham!  Finally when everything was laid out, we were all hanging around waiting for the first runners to come through.  Wayne and Graham were both dishing out the water to the runners; Jake was recording the runner’s bib numbers as they ran through and I was in the background shouting out the runners numbers just in case Jake had missed any out. It was so much fun seeing them all out of breathe, sweating and stretching on the bars along the riverbank.... We all yelled and shouted 'Well done guys/girls' and 'Not long to go now' even though the poor guys had at least another 11K (7 Miles to go). For once I was watching and not running in the event. Occasionally I’d forget that I was only there for marshalling duty and have to prevent my feet picking up speed and jogging alongside the runners. I would rather be running than standing around in the cold!!! 

 Wayne distributing out water to the first lot of runners running through CP4

 Graham handing bottled water to a runner..................

There were TWIX/Snicker Chocolates, Bottled Waters, Cans of Coke, Haribo Jelly Babies, Sausage Rolls... and of course MY Cup-cakes!!.... There was also a small tank of water for those runners who needed it. Some runners did ask if there were Energy Drinks. 

There were approximately 250 Runners in total, and as the runners ran past their Bib Nos were recorded. There was a gentleman who quit as he was very badly injured and one girl quit at our Check Point as she did not want to risk anymore injuries!! Both did really well to have reached CP4. They were so close to finishing too!  And there were quite a few familiar faces on the course over the weekend, some from this event from the previous years and some from other marathon events.

Runner 143 munching on a piece of Drizzle Cake

The Cup-Cakes went down a treat with the runners; all the comments were very encouraging. There was a point when I had to shut the lid of the cake tin so I could save a piece for Michiel Hoefsmit as I’d promised to save him some. I also saved a few for the girls 'Ruth and Melanie' who I knew were running the event. I think Melanie went for 2 (She was the only runner who took 2 pieces)!!

 
Me, Tyre Girl & Quin

Graham and Jake both left me and Wayne to sort the final leg of the event out. Wayne hung around as he wanted to see 'Tyre Girl' come through CP4, so I hung around with him until she finally did come past. I'd seen 'Tyre Girl' from my previous running at Bedfont Lake parkrun. She introduced herself to me and mentioned about her amazing challenge she was aiming for. I wished her 'Good Luck' and told her I'd see her around at another parkrun!!

Me, Michiel Hoefsmit & Graham Kehily

Me, Melanie, Ruth, Emily (First Ultra) and unsure about the Gentleman in the back - LoL

The day finally ended when Rory called to say that Jen was on her way to see the last few runners finish and that we could all go home once she arrived at CP4. We both exchanged hugs and thank yous and then I was on my way home at 4pm.

What a day, I will never forget it - Thank You both to Rory and Jen for making this fantastic event happen!