Spartan Sprint Race Volunteering Recap!

Note: I did run the race with my awesome boyfriend. The only nickname he has is the Ninja, so that is what I will be calling him. FYI he is called that because he is so light on his feet.

Volunteering!

So for people who haven't ever volunteered for race before, sometimes you get to run the race for free if you so wish and you always get the great feeling of cheering on other people as they race.

So the Ninja and I  volunteered for the shorter shift, 6 hours, on Saturday since we were racing the next day. Originally we were going to help out in the registration tent, but they needed us more at the obstacles on the course.

 We ended up at the finish line right after the final mud pit where the wall of fire was. It was an amazing and rewarding experience. The wall of fire is a two foot tall pile of wood that is on fire. The race participates jump over the wall of fire then fight three gladiators in the gladiator pit then they cross the finish line!

Cheering and helping people cross the wall of fire was empowering. There were people who had been on the course for more than 7 hours crossing the finish line in tears and smiling. I thought that I would include some tips for people interested in volunteering.

Tips

• Wear sunscreen if you are going to be in the sun
• Wear sunglasses
• Bring a noise makers, kettle bell, or be prepared to clap and cheer 
• Wear comfortable shoes (Or in my case the shoes I was racing in since they got muddy) 
• Bring water and some food
• Bring a good ATTITUDE! You are cheering on these people and being supportive really makes a difference in someone's race.
• Be prepared to offer assistance, especially in an obstacle race. Sometimes people can't make it through an obstacle without a helping hand, so just being there to help when necessary is a good thing to know ahead of time
• Have fun!

The race recap should be up sometime tomorrow! Have you every volunteered for a race? Did you like it?

Hot Chocolate 15k/5k Expo and Volunteering Recap & Giveaway Winner!

Volunteering at the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k Prep

Saturday morning Lisa and I reported to Turner Field to help with preparations for the race! The first thing that happened when we got to the volunteer site was get our AWESOME sweatshirts that say "Will Volunteer for Chocolate," and at 20 degrees when we got there we sure did need the extra layers!

Our job as volunteers was to assemble the finishers mugs. Each mug had to have a bag of pretzels, wafers, a rice crispy treat, and a hand sanitizer wipe. We also had to make about 20,000 of these! There were about 50 volunteers there during our shift and we broke into smaller groups and made an assembly line putting the finishers cups! This lasted about 5 hours and then we were off to the expo!

The Expo!

The race expo was located at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, and for those who haven't been there it is HUGE! This was our first expo which was really exciting, so we spent a few hours there. 

The expo was one large room in the World Congress Center filled with booths for other races and companies like Skirt Sport. For some reason we didn't think that there would be booths with clothes and shoes so we did not expect to go and spend money! There were some amazing deals there on our favorite running gear, like 50% off shoes, Skirt Sport clothes, Sweaty Bands headbands, ect. So we browsed and walked around the expo looking at all of the items that we wanted but didn't buy since we weren't expecting to spend money. 

As you can image that only lasted so long. Lisa and I purchased race entries to the 80's Rad Retro Run, which is on May 10 (the day after my 21st birthday!). The expo also had music, chocolate covered marshmallows, and hot chocolate of course!

Below is the goodie bag that we got with packet pickup. I also got a free coffee mug (with a coupon from another blogger when I signed up)

Giveaway Winner

The winner of the giveaway is Tara! Tara if you would send us an email with your information to claim your prize, it will be on its way to you soon!

The race recap will be up soon so be sure to check back for that! (The blog post after that will have a giveaway too!)