When credit is passed around for the smoothness of this year’s Beach to Beacon 10-kilometer road race, Volunteer Director Maya Cohen and almost 800 volunteers should be at the top of the list.
They’re hard to miss – thanks to the yellow tee shirts – but their contributions are easily overlooked. If you found yourself more interested in the brilliant performance of the elite runners Saturday, it means they did their job.
“Without these volunteers, this wouldn’t happen the way it does,” Cohen said, noting that the cooperative spirit of those who give their time and effort freely sets the stage for success.
“There’s a whole sense of community here, and it’s terrific,” she added.
That said, it isn’t a bad gig. The secret, it seems, is arriving early and doing one thing (at a time anyway) very well.
“The volunteers are flexible too, though,” Cohen said. “When they’re done with one job, they are more than willing to be moved to somewhere else.”
They come from all over Maine, and from across the country. They work for nothing and collect timing chips, assist security, pass out awards and direct traffic. The list seems almost endless.
“We had about 100 people volunteer for registration,” said Cohen. “Almost 200 volunteered for water distribution. And we have a baggage program for runners. About 20 volunteers make sure bags are tagged and moved properly.”
Biddeford’s Jack Guerin managed to secure a volunteer position with the finish line security.
“Maybe I’ll get a glimpse of my wife,” said Guerin, hoping to spot wife Nilsa, who ran for the second year in a row. “But I may not see her. I may be busy helping somebody else.”
Guerin, who prefers participating in bicycle races to foot ones, said there are numerous benefits to volunteering.
“You meet a lot of new people and it’s beautiful out here,” he said.
Nicole Ducette from Brunswick was going to run for the third year in a row, “but I’m expecting, in my eighth month, so I’m taking the year off.”
Also on the water line, Ducette will look for husband Andre Ducette and vows to again join him in the race next year.
Cape Elizabeth sisters-in-law Kelly Phinney and Kathy Lalouche were also on finish line water distribution duty.
“I don’t run, but I wanted to be a part of the race,” said Phinney. “I have several friends who are running and wanted to see them.”
Lalouche said the best part of volunteering, “comes when the runners say ‘thank you,'” she said. “That’s what we like.”
Also milling about near the finish line before the start of the race, were more than a dozen medical volunteers, including Bill McCormick, a physical therapist from Buxton and member of the race’s medical board.
McCormick has run the Beach to Beacon three times and was also signed up to run this year, but instead opted out a day earlier.
“I wasn’t sure what I was going to do,” he said. “But it seemed like they were a little shorthanded, so I chose to volunteer.”
The key task for most of these medical volunteers – all doctors, nurses, physical therapists, EMTs or podiatrists – is to scan the field for symptoms. Heat exhaustion is the most prominent malady, say the experts.
“We’re just looking for those people who don’t look that good,” McCormick said. “Maybe they stayed up late. Maybe they weren’t properly hydrated. You can usually pick them out. They are a little confused or disoriented.”
“That’s why we have all this ice,” said Dr. Doug Aiken, the event’s medical director, shortly before the start of the race.
More than 70 runners were treated in the tent, located close to the finish line. And that’s what Aiken had expected before the opening gun.
“We probably will have a dozen or so runners in here with core temperatures over 107 degrees,” he said. (“Normal” is 98.6).
The number of medical volunteers has grown over the years.
“We started with a small operation, with about 30 volunteers” said Aiken, from Yarmouth, and the medical director since the initial Beach to Beacon, nine years ago. “And now we have about 90 helping us out.”
Hours before the race, Mark Grandonico, president of the Maine Track Club, had his almost 70 track club volunteers in place.
“Every year part of our contribution is to provide volunteers for the finish area and security,” Grandonico said. “We keep spectators off the course, out of the press area, and make sure everyone is safe.
“We appreciate those who come out here and give up their Saturdays to help out,” he said.
After the race, Sarah McColl, who was in charge of the volunteers in the race’s first year, was still volunteering this Saturday, passing out medals to participants of the youth fun run.
“This is much easier,” said McColl, also from Cape Elizabeth. “I think I’ve found my comfort level.”
She sees clearer than most the array of benefits the volunteers provide. And she also sees what the volunteers get out of the deal.
“You come and do something that makes the race special for somebody else,” she said. “And it’s never a bad day at the Beach to Beacon.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
