Saturday 5th October 2024 03:00. That was the alarm set for the morning of volunteer duties I had ahead of me. After volunteering at the fling in April, it was my intention to sign up for a volunteer role for this event. It's one I have my eye on in participating in the future & if fling taught me anything, it was to gauge how the other runners were finding it. It's also good to pick up on the vibe before the runners start & what the organisers are like.
Before I signed up I had heard GB Ultras have an amazing reputation. They really look after everyone at their events & safety is paramount. The feedback from people who have participated at their events say the food is fantastic at the checkpoints. Then there's the medals. For covering the massive distances runners pay for the medal alone is worth the money!
I received the email for my volunteer roles a couple of weeks before & was asked to clarify if I was happy with my roles. I had handing out registration numbers, traffic marshal 2a and checkpoint 3 marshal. The only role I was apprehensive about was the traffic marshal. I was worried I'd guide the runners up the wrong road! More on that later.
It took 10 minutes to get to the Riverside museum from my house so as long as I was organised the night before I could set as late as possible alarm to be there for 04:00. Morning registration opened at 04:15 so we had to be there before the runners to set up. My compulsory volunteer kit was waterproofs (if 2023 was anything to go by they were a necessity) & a headtorch for early morning/late evening volunteers. I also packed a change of clothes & food to tie me over for the shift.
Traffic on the way in was obviously quiet & thankfully no road closures on the motorway getting there. Not only was it dry but was unusually warm for this time in the morning. Walking towards the tall ship I got a lovely view of Clydeside & it was really peaceful.
On arrival I met Craig, a mutual friend of many other runners in the community & a couple of other volunteers. We chatted about West Highland Way & other running events before donning the high viz & seeing where we were handing out the runner's bib numbers. There were a lot of participants still to register considering registration was optional on Friday evening. Over 700 runners had signed up for the event, there was a lot to get through. We had to check contact details, if the disclaimer had been filled out online & inform them to fill out the back of the numbers before collecting their trackers. It was busy & I was keeping an eye on time to head to my traffic post. I had to be at my spot for 05:45 as it was close to the start line.
The instructions of where to go were really clear from the organisers with a what 3 words location. It was easy to find & cool to take a wander along the very beginning of the course. Under the tunnel was a broken glass bottle so I kicked what I could out of the road so no one would slip or worse, fall onto it at the very start of the race. I double checked my position of where to guide the runners then I was fine!
I recorded a couple of Instagram stories for something to do as 06:00 was approaching & took in the silence of that time in the morning. There's something peaceful about it with hardly anyone on the streets unsurprisingly. 06:03 & the runners should be approaching any minute. Then, the 1st set of headtorches approached!
Not far behind them the masses appeared. It was tough to try & find my pals in the dark & with the headtorches approaching but I managed to see them & give them a wee cheer as they set on their way of the 57 mile journey!
Once that job was complete I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders as that was the job I was most anxious about (I shouldn't have been!). I headed back to the start where they were derigging & they looked like they had everything in order & didn't need me. Wayne the RD was kind enough to get a photo with me as I knew he was insanely busy & I didn't think I'd see him for the rest of the day.
Next stop CP3! I was delighted to be allocated this checkpoint as it is right at Croy hill where I go for a lot of walks & runs now. It's a side of the hill I haven't actually discovered yet & turns out it was a lovely part of the canal to have a CP set up. No support crews were allowed here & on arrival it was understandable why. It's a narrow country road to get to it then parking is very limited. Less than 10 spaces. We had a portaloo set up already then it was a case of setting up the CP ready for everyone coming. It went well & we got to enjoy a lovely sunrise whilst doing this.
We chatted among each other & I was so happy to see Laura again who you will know if you've read my previous blogs. A really huge part in the ultra community in Scotland & just a fabulous human. She also travelled over from the east to be able to volunteer so really went above and beyond to help at the event.Just before the front runner arrived there was time for a quick team photo of who was at the marquee. There are a few missing as the number checkers of people entering the CP was recorded manually & they were in position just before the CP.
07:51 Joe Beaton appears as the 1st person through. He kept that going throughout the race & annihilated the course record with a whopping 6:25:21. The video I recorded he spent a grand total of 13s through the CP & my favourite thing was he put his gel wrapper in our bin & said thank you. Fantastic.
We were in awe of how fast this was & the 2nd person was 7 minutes behind him. A decent lead I would say but a strong field this year so he more than likely couldn't have relaxed I would imagine. The lady that went on to win Sara Eydmann arrived at the CP & asked about her position. I thought she was 1st female at that stage but was informed by the others she was 2nd as there was a lady running within a pack of male runners. I felt bad but she was really gracious & said that was something to work on! I'm glad that not only did she win, she got the female course record of 7:39:57.
I took another photo of our CP before we got really busy, which we did!
Matt & Alannah arrived with more water from a prior CP & jumped on the hydration station with us.There ended up being a lot of us on hydration so I then jumped on food with Kat which was great. The chat and encouragement we were giving, hearing from the runners how they were getting on I was inspired.
Potatoes & cheese were very popular followed by the watermelon. There was an array of sandwiches (PB, marmite, jam & cheese spread) the jam ones ran out 1st closely followed by the cheese. Oranges, crisps, sweets, pretzels, it was tough as a volunteer not to tuck in! If it's one thing GB Ultras know what to do it's put food on a CP. I've not seen anything like this so far in my own experience & the runners were just as glad to have the choice. I managed to catch a few photos of friends old and new in between helping people where it was needed and top the food up.
I was waiting for one person in particular, my pal Lynn. I've been looking forward to seeing Lynn smash this ultra (which she did!) as her training block was inspiring to witness on Strava. She deserved a great run & by the time she got to our CP she was feeling good. Taking it steady which served her well for the rest of the course. Amazing job Lynn!
Before we knew it, the sweeper of the event who I now know was Iain Bethune arrived. When you volunteer at an event & you see the sweeper that means our job for the day is either done or we move onto the next job at a further along CP which was the case for some. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of Iain but did get a good chat. I was in awe he was sweeping the whole 57 miles & was happy he managed to get a bacon roll along the way! As far as volunteering goes in my opinion, the sweeper is the most tiring job I think when it's all that time on feet. Also to be encouraging when people aren't finishing and have to DNF at a checkpoint must be sad to see but essential to keep everyone on the course safe & accounted for. This is apart from the race directors of course who have the stress of setting the whole event up!
Once most of the packing was done there was time for one more team photo.....
The team were brilliant to work alongside & I loved volunteering at this event. For our efforts, if we volunteer for a big portion of the day, this entitles us to a free entry into one of the GB Ultras 50 mile events next year. Unfortunately for myself due to timings and races changing dates unexpectedly for 2025 I don't think I will be able to take advantage of this generous offer. But that's not why I signed up for volunteering. Not only do I get a kick out of cheering others on, I learn a lot from the runners. What they are eating, how they are feeling, what's going well and what isn't. I hope to be back in 2025 as a volunteer for sure if I can make it work around life. I'd highly recommend giving something back especially if you run these events. Until you see the other side you cannot fully appreciate the time & effort that goes into setting an event up & doing it well. Without the volunteers we have no events.
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