York runners assist Chicago Marathon’s elite racers
Jack Rodgers, senior, takes a picture with a runner as he grabs his bottle.
On Sunday, Oct. 11, runners from both cross country teams here at York High School had an early wake up call. Every year, the Chicago Marathon asks the York cross country programs to assist in working the elite fluid stations– the areas in which the marathon’s top competitors, the best runners in the world, are able to refuel with their specially prepared energy concoctions.
Volunteers at the 5k distance marker organize the set up of fluid tables.
“This is a really cool opportunity,” said junior Jack Davis. “It’s awesome that we are able to assist such talented runners in racing as fast as they can.”
The volunteers departed for the city at 5:30 AM to set up in their designated locations before the race began at 7:00 AM.
Their job entails setting up long, narrow tables where runners can pass by and grab their water bottles. This task must also be completed quickly so that when the runners come by, they can pick up their hydration without interruption. The tables must then also be removed from the road before the thousands of other runners, the non-elites, come stampeding through.
A volunteer’s early morning coffee can be seen with the unique bottles of the elite racers.
It is also important for the volunteers to hide behind their assigned table so that they are as little of a distraction as possible. If someone were to bump or trip one of the elite racers, the entire outcome of the race could be altered.
“The last thing you want to do is mess up and make national news,” said Steve Stein, the team leader for the 5k distance marker.
The bottle of Satoshi Yoshii, one of the international elite runners competing in the 2015 Chicago Marathon.
This job is only offered to the York cross country programs due to their excellent reputation. No other high school in the area has been asked to participate in this unique project.
But it is not all work as well, participants find a great deal of fun going to the city early in the morning and assisting with this unique event.
“It’s really cool that we can serve the community and have fun with it along the way,” said Connor Murphy, senior.
Jack Rodgers, senior, takes a picture with a runner as he grabs his bottle.
Jack, senior, is currently in his second year as part of the YTV crew and first year as part of the York-Hi staff. When not stuck doing homework, you can...
