Help Needed for July 8th and 9th.

Nanaimo
Humility Half-Marathon and 8Km Short Course GutBuster
A Runners of Compassion Event
July 9th

As some of you already know, July 9th is the date of the Humility Half Marathon GutBuster and 8km Short Course GutBuster Trail Races which both start and finish at Westwood Lake. Both of these races are part of the GutBuster Trail Running Series and both will again attract a large turnout of trail racers. This year we (myself, Norm Thibault and Stefan Jakobsen) have extended the short course by about 1.5 km and made it a measured 8.5 KM Trail race and we have also extended the long course by just over 10 KM and made it a “measured” Half Marathon Trail Race. Having run both of the new race routes I can tell you first hand that the people are going to love the 2005 courses. The fact we are offering an actual off road, measured half marathon race is creating a buzz in the trail running community throughout BC and Alberta and already we have several out of province entries as well as several from the Interior.

The Nanaimo stop on the series has the tradition and history of attracting the largest turnout of racers. Why is that? It is because we offer the most scenic race courses of the series which are run on some of the best single track trails on Vancouver Island, plus we have the best on course support of all the races. That is where you come in.

In order to keep up the tradition of offering a fantastic race we need volunteers. I need a number of volunteers either on both Friday afternoon (15 people) from 5:00pm – 9:00pm for pre-race flagging and/ or Saturday morning from 8:00 am – approximately 1:00pm for on course marshalling (30 plus volunteers). I also really need 5 people that can be available both Friday and Saturday that Norm and I can count on for being responsible for a set section of trail - A Section Leader. There are a number of you that quickly pop into my mind as being one of these Section Leaders.

Friday afternoon/evening – The 5 small teams of 2-3 people along with their Section Leader will head out and heavily “flag in” their assigned section of approximately 4-5 km of trail. Most of both race courses are un-marshaled so we rely on flagging and temporary signage to direct the racers. Norm and I will give you all quick instructions in how to properly flag in an “off road” course, plus we will both be out on the course helping you with this. We will supply all of the flagging tape and signage that you require. We ask that you bring your own staple gun and staples if you have one. The Friday afternoon/evening is actually quite fun and you can either run or hike it; t is your choice. It is a good opportunity to take a friend out on a hike and show them some of the trails that we run. Bring a snack along.

Saturday Morning – The section leader will head out with their assigned course marshals to their section of the race course and await the runners. After all the racers have gone through, the trail sweeper will run by and inform you that all racers are through and that you can start your way out. At this point you simply remove all of the flagging and signage and head your way back to the finish line area at Westwood Lake. There are separate draw prizes set up just for the volunteers. Saturday volunteers will want to bring water and snacks as you could be out on the course for about 3 - 4 hours. Saturday will also see The Nanaimo Ham Radio Operators out on course with you along with a couple of roving First Aid Attendants. There is a water station being set up on where the Half Marathon Route crosses Harewood Mines Rd if you don’t want to go in the back country due to injuries or for some other reason.

So if you can help, which Runners of Compassion hopes you can, please send me Dan Brady an email at danbrady@shaw.ca letting me know your availability. If you have a cell phone can you please provide me your number as well so I can compile a list of numbers for communication purposes on race day?

Thank you,

Dan Brady