A Day

Do you ever have a day that seemed so complete and left you happy with the world? I did on Saturday.

On Saturday morning the family went to a local pumpkin patch while I got to volunteer for the marathon. Even though I wasn't there, I was glad the family went. It gave them something to do and made me feel no guilt for my extracurricular activity.

A few months ago I had the great idea of signing up to volunteer for the KC marathon. I wanted to see what the atmosphere was like and was hoping to get inspired. I found the perfect job for me, handing out water bottles. I was able to work the second shift which was perfect for me because I got to wake up normally, and I would get to see the runners who were like me. When I got to the marathon, it was a little crazy. There were people everywhere and I didn't know which way to turn. Eventually I got things sorted out and found the water bottle people. Right after the finish line there were people to take off the timing tags on the runners, and then there were the water bottle people. I got be right there in the middle of it! It took me a while to figure out how to get in, but once I was in, things were great. 

I started handing out water bottles at the 2:30 mark. This meant I was seeing the normal half marathon finishers and the elite marathon finishers. It was pretty easy to sort the two out by body type. Anyway, I would hold up a bottle and say "congratulations" or "awesome job" or something like that. Most people smiled and took the water. Some said thanks and some even thanked me for volunteering. Most people were very pleasant, and if they weren't, they just seemed in the zone. No one was rude. It was a pretty rewarding job.

Initially, I saw a lot of limpers and people with muscle spasms. I saw one women who I would have bet money would topple over (she didn't) and one guy I thought was going to throw up in front of me (he didn't). Everyone walked away on their own accord, including a guy who possibly broke a toe (I don't buy it). Most people looked exhausted, but in a happy way. I mean, they just ran a marathon (or a half). They should be happy.  It was great seeing what it looks like to finish and thinking about how I will look myself some day.

This was on Sunday, but it is nice to include pictures on blog posts.

After a few hours, I notice a young boy next to me holding two water bottles. I asked if he wanted to give them out, and he said he wanted to give them to me. He was just trying to help. I told him he could go ahead and give the bottles to the runners. I told him it was good to say something nice to the runners when he gives them the water. This boy got real excited and started handing the bottles out to the runners. The runners seemed to especially like him. They called him buddy and patted his back or head.  This made the boy real happy. He kept saying "They are so excited to get water" and "It's just water." While I was standing next to him, I heard him say something to a runner, and the runner got a big smile. Apparently, his nice phrase was "You've reached your final destination." How cute is that?

I finally captured her smile.

Eventually the racers started coming in more slowing and this boy was able to handle them all. I stood back to make sure no one got missed, but he did a pretty good job. Finally I asked him if he had a parent around (maybe I should have asked him sooner but he was really helping me out) and it turns out his mother is a volunteer too.  After around 6 hours of racing, the racers came in as slow as a trickle, so I took my chance to leave.

As I was walking back to the parking lot, a few things were ruminating in my mind. The first was "I can do this." I feel even more confident that I can do this. This was exactly what I needed. The second thought was that I was overwhelmed with the amount of bleeding nipples on men. It is a serious problem. I had a hard time not staring at all the blood streaked shirts, and I forced myself to look at their faces when I congratulated them (nice role reversal, right?). I don't know, maybe it was colder then they anticipated, but why don't they put some tape over them or something!

After the marathon, I went home and relaxed with the family. After that we all went for a run at loose park (Henry logged 3/4 of a mile!) and got Indian take out for dinner.  Mmmmmm,  See, a pretty good day.