The Marine Corps Historic Half was held this past Sunday in
Fredericksburg, Virginia. I ran it once (in 2012) and even though I had no
other races planned for that weekend this year, I waffled on whether or not I
wanted to run it. Then the race sold out and it was clear that I would not be
running. As race day drew near, the weather was forecasted to be hot and muggy.
Not the best running conditions. I decided to go down and spectate, and hand
out popsicles.
I hate getting up super early on weekends. If I don’t have a
race or a run planned, I’d rather be sleeping until 9 AM or so. In order to
guarantee I’d stick with the plan to spectate at the Historic Half, I used
Facebook to hold me accountable. I told members of my “Marine Corps Marathon
and 10K Club” Facebook group that I would be there with popsicles. No going
back on my word after that!
 |
| With my finished sign the night before the race |
I thought it would be nice to take juice pops that were a
little better than the standard high-fructose corn syrup fare. Sure, they would
still have cane sugar, but also some real juice. I got several boxes of
different flavored juice pops and filled the freezer with them. Unfortunately,
it was too much work for the freezer to freeze them all in the time I gave it
(15 hours). On Sunday morning, before I headed south to Fredericksburg, only
about ¼ of the juice pops had frozen. I drove to Fredericksburg anyway, found a
Walmart, and bought a bunch of red, white and blue pops. They may not have been
as healthy, but they were frozen!
 |
| Tried to go with these, but they didn't all freeze in time. |
After the cooler was stocked, I set out to Hospital Hill to
find a prime spectating spot. I set up just past the Mile 10 water station,
across from the hospital entrance. I took photos of my “popsicle station” and
posted them to my Facebook group so people would know where to find me. They’d
have to ask for the popsicles, because I couldn’t advertise them to all the
runners. I didn’t have enough for the thousands of runners; just for my group.
 |
| Hospital entrance to the left, my set-up to the right |
In addition to the popsicles, I also brought Twizzlers and
cheese balls. I set those up on my table and was happy to share them with
everyone. It wasn’t too long after I was set up, and still drinking my coffee,
that the 5K started. It had a different starting location than the half
marathon and the 10K. I saw the 5K runners very shortly after their start. I
cheered for them, and for the 10K runners who followed a little later. Most of
these runners didn’t take any of my goodies. A couple of the 10K runners were
members of my group, so I handed out one or two popsicles.
 |
| The 5K leaders still close together because they had just started |
 |
| The half marathon leader just after mile 10 |
And then the half marathoners started running by. The
fasties had no interest in stopping for my treats, but I cheered for them
anyway. I saw Chuck Engle and got a sweaty hug from him. And then the faster of
the mid-pack runners started to arrive, and that’s when my popsicle duties
really kicked off. I started seeing runners from my Facebook group! They saw
the cooler and knew to ask for the popsicles. I met so many new people, but I
know I’m not going to remember all their names. I was so happy that I could
provide a little something cold and refreshing to help them up Hospital Hill.
 |
| Here comes Chuck |
 |
| Got to meet Richard, one of my fellow admins of the Facebook group |
 |
| Pam found me and the popsicles! |
In the second half of the pack I eventually ran out of the
red, white and blue pops, but the few frozen juice pops were at the bottom of
my cooler, and they lasted until the very last walkers were coming in. I
actually had to find people to give away the last few juice pops. This means I
had brought enough for everyone in my group who spotted me on the course, and
who wanted one. The Twizzlers didn’t last. I should have bought more of those.
The cheese balls found a few customers, but mostly they were unwanted. I think
they would have gone over better during a full marathon, or if the weather had
not been so hot. At this race, people wanted fluids, cold things, and sugar.
Even though they had -just- been through an official water station, runners
were asking me if I had water or Gatorade. I didn’t have any, of course. I
really felt for those runners suffering through that heat and humidity.
 |
| Awesome sign from one of my group members! |
 |
| Got to see Rhode Hazard, a fellow Double Agent |
 |
| Here comes Sid, toward Hospital Hill; I made sure he had a juice pop |
I hate it when spectators leave before the back-of-the pack
runners and walkers come through. I hate it when there are no more treats left
for those folks, because sometimes I am one of those folks. So, I made sure to
stay for the entire race. I was out of Twizzlers for the last ¼ of runners, and
I was out of popsicles for the very last walkers, but I still had cheese balls
(something, at least) and I still stayed out to cheer. A few people saw the
cooler and asked for ice cubes; I was able to provide those.
 |
| Popsicle pic from group member Andrea |
I broke down my table after the last person went through. And
then I saw something pretty amazing. I witnessed a feat of military efficiency.
I’d had my eye on the water station during the last minutes of the race. The Marines
started sweeping up the cups and breaking down some of the tables when the pack
thinned out, but they stayed open and still had water for the last participants.
From my vantage point, I saw a still-functional aid station throughout the
race. Then I took my first batch of gear to my car, turning my back on the aid
station. When I returned, just a few moments later, the aid station was gone!
They’d broken down the last tables and loaded them into the truck basically
while I blinked! As I carried my second load to my car, the trucks of
supplies and buses of Marines drove past me. There was no trace left of the aid
station! The tables and trash were gone. The people were on the bus. The road
was now open. Only one truck remained, and it was the vendor who was picking up
the orange cones. I don’t know how those Marines broke down a whole aid station
faster than I broke down my own little camp containing only one small table,
one folding chair, one cooler, one bag of gear, and a sign. Impressive!
I drove home and immediately crashed. No, I wasn’t exhausted
from running. But getting up at 4 AM to spectate wore me out and I needed a
nap. Later on, I checked out Facebook and saw many messages of thanks for being
out there, for providing popsicles and Twizzlers. I was glad I had done it. And
then the photos started coming in. There were selfies of runners with me,
photos of popsicles, and also official race photos of runners with their
popsicles. Apparently there was a photographer shortly after my popsicle stand.
Awesome, awesome, awesome! Congrats to everyone who ran the Historic Half in
those tough conditions!
Comments
Post a Comment