The 2016 Little Rock Marathon has volunteer opportunities for about 2,400 people, and by "opportunities," they mean unpaid manual labor.
But it won't go unrewarded.
"They get a shirt," says executive director Gina Marchese Pharis. "They get an opportunity to earn volunteer credit hours, for the students and the people who work in different areas that also need credit hours, but primarily students.
"They get an opportunity to win awards."
Come again?
"Awards. We have categories for winners. We give them trophies and awards."
How does a footrace volunteer qualify for an award?
"They're just fantastic in what they do," she says. "They shine. We have judges who walk around and go, 'That girl rocks' or 'That guy rocks.' And we give them an award."
Unbeknownst to the nonvolunteering public, the marathon has conferred a few honors on its course volunteers over the years "but we're taking it indoors and everywhere this year," Pharis says. For groups that get 80 percent of their promised volunteers to check in, there are chances to earn a board game, a pizza party, free booth space at the 2017 Health & Fitness Expo or free rental of a portable toilet for another event a volunteer group cares about.
Also new this year, the marathon, a project of the Little Rock Parks and Recreation department, is using an app, VolunteerLocal, to help organize its various temporary crews.
Volunteers register through the usual website, littlerockmarathon.com. They select the shift they'd like to work and provide contact information. They get back a confirmation email with their assigned area, task description and when and where to show up.
Then they can download the VolunteerLocal app. "You can download the app on your phone and track your registration and where you're working," Pharis says.
"You can look up where you were, and you can change your information and, on race day, you can even check in."
Volunteers don't have to create accounts to use the app, and they don't need a password.
Marathon weekend will be March 4 to 6, but volunteer shifts begin March 2, when 31 people will be needed from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. to help set up for the Health & Fitness Expo inside the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock. Another 29 people have a similar opportunity in the same time slot and place the next day.
And although this four-hour shift involves lifting boxes and moving tables, it is indoor work. On race weekend, most of the volunteers will be needed outdoors, with the Little Rockers Kids Marathon on March 5 needing about 300 people, including 39 course marshals; the 5K and 10K, also March 5 (a Saturday), looking for 41 for the start/finish line; and the marathon and half marathon March 6 needing ... so many people.
But a new course and a new plan to conduct all post-race activities inside the convention center mean more of the marathon's sometimes soggy race-day volunteer gigs are indoor jobs, especially including the gear-check helpers.
Among the choice positions available inside and outside on race weekend:
• Marathon muscle: 5 to 8 p.m. March 4 or 1 to 5 p.m. March 5, 30 people are needed to extract finisher medals from Bubblewrap. "They unwrap 13,000 medals," Pharis says. "That is a labor of love, let me tell you. Our medals are so fabulous that they come individually wrapped so they don't get damaged, even though they sometimes do."
• Tap master: From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 6, three volunteers will help serve the post-race beer.
• Course commando: From 7 to 11 a.m. March 6, 29 people are needed along the 26.2-mile course to position traffic cones. "It's always fun to be a Conehead," Pharis says.
• Staff runner: Two volunteers will be "on call" from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 4, 5 or 6 to run errands and do "whatever else pops up." These people will be fed.
Also fed will be finish line volunteers on March 5 and 6, who must commit to stay for their entire shift. Fifty-two are needed from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 5, and 79 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 6.
"Waste management" shifts will also run from early morning to midafternoon March 5 and 6, and these Expo helpers will be fed, too.
And volunteers are needed to help hotel guests find the starting line, lead runners in pace groups, provide aid stations, set up and sell official marathon merchandise, ride herd on the starting line corrals, help the timing crew, set up for the VIP party, check in volunteers and clean up the convention center after the race.
More information is available by calling Max Hilgendorf at (501) 918-5359 or emailing mhilgendorf@littlerock.org.
ActiveStyle on 11/02/2015