Ski to Sea volunteer gig

I am really trying not to panic over getting behind on my favorite blogs and with writing my own posts. TechnoBabe honored me with one that I am getting to within the next day or two, and I also have a couple of ideas that are percolating in my head. Yesterday I spent the entire day volunteering for the Ski to Sea race that happens tomorrow, Sunday on Memorial Day weekend. For my time and energy, I was given a nice lunch, coffee all day long, and the great t-shirt you see above. But I had no internet access!

What is the Ski to Sea, you ask? Well, Bellingham has held, over the past 99 years, a relay race from Mt. Baker down to Marine Park in Bellingham Bay. It starts with a cross-country ski leg, then downhill skiing or snowboarding, then a 3-mile run down the paved road, a 38-mile bicycle leg, a canoe section down the Nooksack River, a mountain biking segment, and finally ending up with a sea kayaking finish. Eight different people are on each team, one for each segment except for the canoe, which has two. I signed up to help pass out packets to the team captains.

Each packet has competitors t-shirts and instructions for the start of each segment, along with a computerized chip that is handed off at the end of each part to the competitor of the next part. Once they have their packet and their chip is activated, they go off to distribute the goods to the rest of the team. I assisted with finding the correct number and/or name for each captain and yelling out the corresponding number to the runners who found the packet. There are almost 500 teams this year. When someone would walk up to me, I'd ask if they knew the number for their team (most didn't) or the name (most did). Some of the names were priceless: Well Hung Jury, Bitchin' Hot Babes, and some which would be whispered to me, they were so risque.

Here's some of the volunteers: the lady in front, in green, is Mandy, the volunteer coordinator (I sat where she is now), Sherry, my cohort, and Kevin, standing behind her. We were there until 6:00 pm, when I came home too tired to read any of my blogs, had my wine and some dinner and just sat down to relax. We were cold because the door was wide open, with the wind blowing in, and the temperature in the mid-fifties.

I feel much more connected to this event now that I've volunteered for it, and I'll be back next year. It was really fun, if a fair amount of work. Now I'm off to my Fairhaven walking group, which I'm going to attend, reluctantly, because it's still raining, and it's still cold. Hope your Memorial Day weekend is not that way!
:-)