It was a crisp autumn morning in Atlanta on Thanksgiving Day 2009. I volunteered to help the Atlanta Marathon keep the runners safe. I was stationed at Peachtree and 28th Street. With a sweatshirt, coat, mittens and a yellow “CAUTION” sign stapled to a paint stirrer I was prepared to stay warm and to take my responsibilities seriously.
This was my first time as a volunteer for this event and wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I was given instructions to keep the runners safe as they ran by the area I was supervising. This included making sure the runners stayed on course and didn’t meander into the traffic lanes and kept cars from entering or crossing the running lanes at the intersection of 28th street and Peachtree.
It wasn’t too long after being at my post at 7:30am that I spotted the first half marathoners appearing from over the “heart break hill” they had just ran up. It was very exciting to see them running my way. It started with a few, the leaders of the pack, and then followed by the “bubble”. Then there were the more casual half marathoners following that group with a soon appearance of the first marathoners. For the marathoner’s, it was their 21st mile marker when they reached my area of supervision. Boy, could those marathoner’s run – even after 21 miles!
There were a lot of runners and they all seemed so happy on such a festive day to be thankful. It amazed me that many of the runners were so genuinely thankful for my volunteering efforts to keep them safe. They would actually thank me as they ran by – it was so unexpected to hear that, and I felt so good that I could help. I even had runners recognize me and say “hi, hey I know you” from the Expo. I learned that there were approximately 11,000 half marathon runners, and about 1,100 marathon runners that day.
For the 2 previous days I had spent time manning a booth at the Atlanta Marathon Expo which was held at the Hotel Intercontinental in Buckhead. At the booth, I worked to educate runners and their supporters on new breakthrough products to help them maintain proper electrolyte balance while running, increase their energy levels as they tired while running, and overall healthful products. I got to meet some amazing nice people who truly “get it” when it comes to proper nutrition and ingesting healthful products.
I love being an independent distributor of enlyten products. I know that I’m helping good people realize there are better alternatives to nutraceuticals which contain zero sugars, zero carbs, and zero calories and yet taste good! I met some amazing runners – even one guy who runs a 50K and swears by the enlyten products. I couldn’t believe it. These products are so refreshing compared to everything else out there and such a pleasure and joy to introduce people to them.
I had the most incredible experiences at the Expo for the 2 days prior to the marathon and on Marathon day. I learned that I’m a great teacher and educator, learned how to be a cheer leader to complete strangers and new found friends and found out that I’m pretty darn good at directing traffic, and assisting runners who were in distress. It was a fantastic event that I truly was so happy that I participated in and volunteered for. I will definitely do this again and so glad that I could help a great organization like the Atlanta Track Club.
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