Eggs and Bacon

Some days as a Race Director you spend figuring out how to make an egg and bacon display out of the things you have in your office. This is for a window display for our awesome running store partner, Super Jock and Jill at Greenlake for Seattle Magazine Brunch Run happening on June 6th. I often times get asked what I do all day and how can being a Race Director be a full time job. Well, ladies and gentleman, sometimes I make eggs and bacon and sometimes it is what it is cracked up to be (pun intended). What did you do today at your job? 

How to Make a Race Director Almost Pee Her Pants!!

We have a storage unit where we keep all of our race stuff; cones, tents, tables, banners, PA system, generators.... You know the type of space I am talking about, cramped, overcrowded and seemingly growing stuff every time I turn around. It is a small room, I believe its a 10x10 space with aluminum siding and concrete floors. Outside is a maze of hallways, doors and elevators with cameras everywhere. Usually empty of all other human activity. With automatic lights that turn off if you don't make some sort of movement in the hallway every 5 minutes. The result is me doing a seizure like movement to get them to kick on.

I was in there today, organizing stuff that will be needed for this weekend's Run Like the Wind Running Festival. To navigate inside this small cage is precarious, at best. There is often times I find myself climbing over delineator posts, one foot in a garbage can, one foot on the Volunteer Check In box to reach that one small box way over there. That was the case today. Every time we have a race we have a crew of great people working for us that all help to unload the truck and we are usually incredibly tired, which means a lot of throwing it in and dealing with it later, which results in a lot of searching for items when needed. That was the case today.

I was searching for the cash box (still haven't found it, had to order another one. Thank god for Amazon Prime!) and I was leaning over a box that happened to not have a lid on it. It just so happened that there was other human activity on the floor. Usually I am all by myself up there, sort of spooky. I gently leaned over, put a hand on what I thought was a box with a lid, my hand went inside the box and pressed the button of the air horn we use to start races.

BAAWAAAWAAAAA!!

That thing is loud, meant to get the attention of a boat over miles of open water. I almost peed my pants as it reverberated around this aluminum cage. These things were not meant to be deployed inside, let alone inside a storage unit, unbeknownst to the user. I can only imagine what the guy down the hallway must have been thinking.

Use this device to make a race director almost pee her pants! 

Hazards of living with a Race Director

I have often times found myself feeling sorry for my husband who has to live with a Race Director. Races take a lot of stuff and the stuff sometimes takes over the whole house. I try to contain it to the office, but during race weeks it usually spills over to the living room, which quickly starts to resemble a storage unit. Sometimes there is bag stuffing in front of the TV, sometimes there are laminated signs strewn across the dining room table and bibs hiding under couches. Good thing he is so tolerant. If it were the other way around, if his stuff was taking over our house, I probably would not be so nice.

These events have a lot of people who need a lot of stuff. Food, bibs, prizes, flyers, posters, goody bags, giveaways.... and the most insidious of all...the safety pin! The safety pin has a tendency to escape from any container that you might try to use to contain it. How do these little buggers end up on the floor of the kitchen, or in the couch cushions, or pretty much in any crevice it can find? It is one of life's mysteries, sort of like socks that go missing from the laundry. In fact, I have found safety pins in the dryer before. Maybe there is a safety pin and missing sock coalition forming in there? Just be careful when sitting down on a couch or a chair in my house, you might get poked with one of these guys.

Sorry honey, I love you and thank you for living with this Race Director! 

Why I shop Local Running Stores

Can you feel the love tonight!!?

Run Scared 5K window display at Super Jock N Jill, one of Seattle's most beloved stores

I can, for local running stores. I just got done shopping for a new running bra at my local running store and it made me realize how much I absolutely love locally owned stores. Here is why:

1. Amazing service - not only can you try on shoes by experts with very personalized service, but if you shop at one store long enough they might even remember what kind of shoes you have purchased in the past. Most local running stores keep track for you. You can ask questions and hang out talking about running for as long as you like. Most stores around here are more like running club hangouts than stores. Sometimes I have to pull myself out of the store because I feel so welcomed, like I could just live there and be happy.

2. Instant gratification and no shipping charges - When you shop online, from a big box store, you have to wait to receive your goods, and usually pay for shipping. Not so when you shop local. For someone with the patience of a mosquito this is a good thing for me. I need to wear those shoes that same day, not 3-7 business days from now.

3. When you support a local running store you are also supporting local running events. Most runners do not even know the extent that running stores help out events. From promoting runs to sponsoring races to creating training plans and groups to help people complete a local run to hosting packet pickups and registrations parties, to donating merchandise for prizes, to hosting in-store paper registrations, and everything in between. Super Jock N Jill has committed to displaying nothing but local running races in their windows, year round. They could be promoting their next big sale or the next big shoe coming in but they support local events and that is awesome. West Seattle Runner even hosts their own 5K (which we happen to produce for them) called Float Dodger 5K.

4. Running groups and fun events - most running stores host a once or twice a week run and most of the time there is something free or fun as an added bonus too like a vendor giving away stuff or hot chocolate on a Christmas Eve morning run. There is an instant group of friends all awaiting you every Tuesday night. Its always so much easier to run with people then on your own, especially in the dead of winter. I have received some pretty awesome swag for showing up to running store runs; socks, gear, free race entries, energy products, advice....Many stores have free PT/medical nights as well.

5. Shopping local is just good - good for the environment (assuming you can run to your local store and there are no nasty shipping emissions), good for the economy; you keep the money local to local owners and we all know how good that is and good for the community.

6. I just feel good when I shop at these stores.

The only bad thing? So many good stores and only so many dollars to spend on running gear!

Here are a few of my personal favorites around here:

West Seattle Runner
Super Jock N Jill
Sound Sports
Fleet Feet Seattle
Seven Hills Running
Running Elements
Run 26

Could it be the lucky socks?

Could it be that the only key to success of a race is this lucky pair of socks? 

I have this ratty pair of running socks that I got when I ran the Honolulu Marathon, back in 2007. They are the perfect pair of socks, not too thin, not too thick, the perfect height in the back, they don't slip....And, because I have had them so long they conform to my feet nicely. They are nasty, I am the first to admit this, they have pilled and are dirty from many many miles of trail running. I wear them in almost all my races and have completed about 10 full marathons, countless half marathons and one 50K in them. They are my lucky pair of socks. 

Now, I do not know if other race directors do this, but just like baseball players who have their pre-game rituals, I must do certain things or wear certain things to each of the races we produce. Wearing this nasty socks is one of those good luck things. Races seem to go smoother when I wear these magical socks. No explanation for it, they just do. 

The problem I run into is with Run Like the Wind, which in previous years has been a 2 day event. Do I re-wear the same socks two days in a row? Well, yes, yes I did! 

Other pre-race rituals include: 

• Saying out loud when I leave the office for the last time before a race "I hope I have everything!" 
• Eating a piece of string cheese on the way to the event, the breakfast of champions
• Taking a long deep breathe right before I get out of the truck on race morning. 
• Eating a HUGE meal after the race, usually Greek food, but often times a burger, fries and a milkshake. 

All of this means a successful event, without these things, my day would most likely be disastrous! 

If I am in jail...

If I am in jail you will know it was because I was stalking the UPS lady! This is the life of a race director, I suppose, at least this race director.

We recently moved our office. Apparently some of our vendors did not get that memo as they have still been delivering packages to our old address. Run Scared 5K is coming up this Sunday and I get a little anxious about items like these arriving in time. It is a fine balance between ordering too early and having your numbers be way off (either way to many and you end up storing them for all eternity, I think we still have shirts from our first year of some of these events. Or, not ordering enough thus making your participants angry).

So, when I looked online a couple of days ago it had said my boxes had been delivered, but no boxes appeared. I dug a little further and realized they were using my old address. Luckily I am friends with someone else in the building and she looked around and could not find them. The next day she texted me saying my boxes had arrived.

Thrilled I made the trek down to Seattle to pick them up. But alas, only 2 out 7 boxes had arrived. I did some errands around Seattle and stopped back by when behold, I saw the UPS truck, just up the street. She was delivering something to the next building up the hill. I had a feeling that my boxes were on that truck. So, like a stalker, I pulled in across the street, slunk down in my car and watched and waited.

Sure enough, she started unloading the boxes onto a hand truck. I jumped out, waved her down and asked if they were for Run For Good Racing. She was surprised, said yes, how did I know! I gave her a creepy smile and led her to my car.

All boxes now arrived and the hats look great! With even a few days to spare!

Phew!

Let's just hope she doesn't press charges!

Post-Race-Day-Syndrome

Have I run a marathon recently? Oh no, that is just the day after race syndrome. The day after one of our own races my whole body usually is sore and aching and all I want to do is sleep. Walking down stairs is always interesting and I feel muscles in my body I do not normally feel. Frequently I am ravenous all day. I get the same sense of happy tired accomplishment and similar sense of pride.

Unlike marathon running though, race directing comes with a certain brand of bruising that you might not find anywhere else. I like to think that I am a victim of race abuse.

Why, you ask? Well, the simple explanation is there is a lot of shlepping, pulling, pushing, throwing, lifting, wrenching, carrying, kicking and various other actions that come along with race day.

Today is no different. We put on a small-ish event yesterday. We had amazing weather, a better than expected turnout with lots of smiles, and happy participants. I feel like the smaller the event, the less volunteer and staff support it usually has, which means more of it falls on the race director and our crew.

This nice set of bruises comes from carrying delineators around the course, out to turn arounds and mile markers that were not easily accessible by vehicle. I doubt you will find this sort of bruise patterns anywhere else. Those things are heavy and awkward!

Participants often times do not recognize that race directors take physical abuse to be able to put on these events. There is little time for eating or drinking and I have only gone to the bathroom once, at any of our own events, ever, which is a shame as I would like to be able to use the porto-potties that our company pays for! More often that not race days come with a very very early alarm clocks and the day does not end until late afternoon, and it is mostly non-stop physical exertion. I guess the adrenaline gets my body through. I always try coffee (usually we are too early and coffee shops are not open so I have somebody bring me a coffee) but 9 times out of 10 I set the cup down somewhere and forget it even exists.

So I sit here today, on my couch, trying not to move, happy that the event is over and successful, but bruised, scraped and sore. I am not sure which is easier, running a marathon or race directing. They are both about equally as painful.

Next time you see a race director schlepping that heavy generator, cone, tent, water jug, table....take a moment and thank them for taking the abuse so that you may have a great race experience. You will probably hear a genuine "you are welcome" as we all love our jobs too much to quit!

Signing off, the ice cream and movies are calling me!