Without the efforts of some 5,000 volunteers, there would be no Ironman World Championship as we know it. They’re the ones setting up and breaking down the course, and catching and racking bicycles as the speeding athletes cast them off to begin the long footrace. The volunteers run the registration and information booths, answer the same questions over and over again, and make sure the athletes have food, water and sunscreen. They hang out on the water to make sure the champions are safe and on course. They help the athletes find medical care when the racers are too tired to think straight. The functions they serve, from public safety to massage to cleanup, are too numerous to list. “If you go out on Saturday night, behind the last cyclist, you see the forklifts and trucks breaking down the course,” said Franz Weber, Ironman’s volunteer and information director — himself a volunteer for 22 years. “If you go out at 3 a.m., all the trash is gone. It’s like there was never a race.” Some of the volunteers are related to the athletes. Many are Big Island residents, while others converge from far-flung regions of the globe. Some folks are so passionate about the event they’ve returned to help out for more than two decades. Waikoloa resident Ricky Woodson was bitten by the Ironman bug back when he lived on Oahu. This is his seventh year at the event. Woodson, who hands out the medals to victorious athletes, is buoyed by the sheer energy that pumps through Kailua Village on race day. “I like being part of something that’s big like this,” Woodson said. “I wish I had the energy to do what they do. I’m in good shape, but my body can’t take that. Every year there’s something different. What impresses me most are the older people, in their 70s and 80s. That’s just awesome.” Subscribers follow the link for the full story by WHT reporter Bret Yager.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 00:05:00 +0000
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