When the alarm went off at 7.30am on Sunday morning I was seriously regretting the decision to give up my lie-in to volunteer at this year’s London Marathon, particularly as my role would be as a very unglamorous baggage handler!
So what does a baggage handler do? We make sure that every bag left by runners at the start gets back to them when they cross the line. Each bag is numbered and put onto a lorry.
The lorries then drive to the finish where myself and about 500 other volunteers are waiting. There are about 15 volunteers allocated to each lorry and the first task was to sort the bags into numerical order (always quite stressful when you’re still half asleep on a Sunday morning!).
Once this was done we waited for the runners to start finishing and did our best to spot ‘our’ runners in the distance so we could have their bag waiting for them by the time they arrived at our particular lorry.
The next few hours turned into a mad game of bingo as random numbers were continually called out and people scurried around trying to retrieve bags before the next numbers were called.
It's always great to see the look of astonishment on the runners faces when they find a bag they left several hours ago in another part of London is waiting for them as they arrive at the lorry.
I lost track of the number of comments along the lines of “amazing organisation”, “best organised Marathon ever”. Hopefully in 2012 people will be saying the same about the Games.
Me with the bags and lorries:
Handing out the baggage is really only half the story. As I was one of the number spotters, I was on the ‘front line’ and ended up tying shoelaces, undoing bags, giving directions, punching numbers into mobile phones and most of all just lending an ear at the finish line.
The Marathon is an emotional event for many people and in the absence of family and friends at the finish line, we are often the people runners turn to, to relive the highs and lows of their experience.
You can’t help but be caught up in the emotion of the event and feel truly inspired by the stories you hear – from those raising money in fancy dress, running in memory of a loved one or just to achieve a personal goal. There are tears, laughter and every emotion in between.
My day finished at about 5pm and although very weary (although not as weary as the runners!) I know I will definitely be joining the ranks of the volunteers again next year as it was a great experience, despite the early start!
It's brilliant to be a bit closer to all the action as a volunteer - I'm injured so I won't ever be running one myself, let alone competing at 2012...
London 2012 colleague Tamsin with her finisher's medal:
The next few hours turned into a mad game of bingo as random numbers were continually called out and people scurried around trying to retrieve bags before the next numbers were called.
It's always great to see the look of astonishment on the runners faces when they find a bag they left several hours ago in another part of London is waiting for them as they arrive at the lorry.
I lost track of the number of comments along the lines of “amazing organisation”, “best organised Marathon ever”. Hopefully in 2012 people will be saying the same about the Games.
Me with the bags and lorries:
Handing out the baggage is really only half the story. As I was one of the number spotters, I was on the ‘front line’ and ended up tying shoelaces, undoing bags, giving directions, punching numbers into mobile phones and most of all just lending an ear at the finish line.
The Marathon is an emotional event for many people and in the absence of family and friends at the finish line, we are often the people runners turn to, to relive the highs and lows of their experience.
You can’t help but be caught up in the emotion of the event and feel truly inspired by the stories you hear – from those raising money in fancy dress, running in memory of a loved one or just to achieve a personal goal. There are tears, laughter and every emotion in between.
My day finished at about 5pm and although very weary (although not as weary as the runners!) I know I will definitely be joining the ranks of the volunteers again next year as it was a great experience, despite the early start!
It's brilliant to be a bit closer to all the action as a volunteer - I'm injured so I won't ever be running one myself, let alone competing at 2012...
London 2012 colleague Tamsin with her finisher's medal:
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Comments for this post:
12 May 2007, peter_konnecke said:
So wonderful to hear of great volunteer experiences such as these happening in London already! It sounds like the dedication, commitment and spirit of London is already infectious, and thats a key element for a successful Olympic Games. Well Done to all.
26 Apr 2007, Tamsin said:
I can vouch whole heartedly for the importance of the volunteers on Sunday: from those organising the toilet queues at the start (a job which cannot be under estimated - it certainly dominated conversation at the start) to the guy at the finish who was ready to catch me as I staggered after the finish.
Of course it wasn’t just the volunteers, but also those thousands of spectators that passed out sweets and sun cream…and amusement as they cheered, bopped and jigged to the bands that lined the course – there wasn’t a sign of the stereotypical London detachment.
However, I think it was the support of fellow runners that really surprised me. I didn’t expect to be tapped on the shoulder by others wanting to share the experience and help push me on when I was flagging. Certainly it was a surprise to have to try and put my GCSE French to use when I found myself sandwiched between two French runners, a Venezuelan lady, an Italian and two northerners discussing the course and, of course, the un-English heat (the Venezuelan lady still insisted on wearing gloves!).
What is the draw of the London Marathon that pulls people in from across the globe? I’m sure it’s a combination of many things, but certainly there is something inspiring about running over Tower Bridge to cheering crowds, the Gherkin skyline provides a welcome distraction and, as I shuffled the last few miles along the Embankment, reeling Big Ben in was huge motivation. All these - the crowds, the volunteers, the London landscape – make for a heady combination, and one that is going to make the London 2012 marathon a brilliant experience for runners and spectators alike. I certainly won’t be in this event, but I definitely feel I’ve had a taste of it!
One of those that tapped me on the shoulder during the run was Dave Rogers, my thoughts go out to his family and friends.