Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Marathon Day May 1, 2011 - the Bike team in action

Sunday was the 40th Annual Vancouver Marathon and once again I found myself down at the course start a little after 5AM meeting up with some of the 30 + members of this year`s team - we do some short prep rides , go over our radio protocol and get ready to do our various tasks - while cool in the morning it was at least dry - the first group out at 6AM are the walkers and then an hour later the half Marathoners and finally at 7:30AM the full course runners - I am riding patrol which meant I follow the race around the course trying to ensure that there are no obstacles in the way of the runners - after completing the course I then start to work on the sweep team until break time at Milestone`s - then another hour or so getting the stragglers off the course by the 2PM deadline  - only one or two didn`t make it. Then it is time to turn in the equipment - vests, radios etc and head for the volunteer where they are setting up a BBQ and some beer - I have a couple of hamburgers and one beer as I still have some Census work to do - It is a little bit of a bittersweet feeling this year in that our long time Captain Brian is retiring after 15 years at the helm and next year there will be a new course and many of us are interested in the route at this time. I was exhausted by the time I got home and more than a little sun tanned - it warmed up during the day which lead to an increase in the number of people who were cramping up and a run on water and refreshments - don`t know of any serious injuries.

For the complete photo story go to the following link on my facebook page.


Here are a few more images of the day - we were honored with finisher`s medals this year as a thank you for our work on race day - I ended up with some 70KM = 42 miles on the odometer by the time I got home.






Cheers