Atlantic City Half Marathon

Early Sunday morning, my lacrosse team and I volunteered at the Atlantic City Half Marathon as the 2.5 mile refreshment team. I woke up at 5:00, put on an absurd amount of layers (morning temperature 42 degrees), and drove the half hour from Stockton to the main drag of the marathon. It was still dark and windy, but our team was in it together. As soon we realized the full extent of the weather, we immediately sent a few of our teammates on a WaWa run to get hot chocolate and bagels for everyone. Then we had to set up the tables and start pouring refreshments for over five thousand runners that would soon be upon us. I was working the first table of water with three other teammates and we had the entire table full of water before the race started at 8:00. Miraculously the first group of the fastest runners came past our table at 8:13! They were moving so quickly that nearly all of the water spilled out of the cup when I tried to hand it off. Then around 8:25 an enormous mob started moving towards us. I frantically started handing water to the runners as my other teammates poured more cups, but it was nearly impossible to keep up with the demand. Water was spilling everywhere, crushed cups were strewn around the road, and people were stripping layers off and tossing them aside. In the midst of all of this hectic action, runners were thanking us for encouraging them and cheering them on and telling us how much they appreciated the volunteers. It was at that I started truly enjoying the volunteer work. Our team bonded so much that we agreed to do it again next year!

Kristen Russo