Kathmandu Adventure Sprint - Hinze Dam, Gold Coast
Sunday 9th July 2006..

The Kathmandu Adventure Race - A Volunteer's Perspective

On Sunday 9 July, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the 5th race in the Kathmandu Adventure Series, held at the Hinze Dam on the Gold Coast. How did this opportunity arise? A friend of mine had announced it was his first Adventure Race, so I decided to go along and cheer. I didn't know how effective I'd be, given that the teams would be spread out in the bush, but I wanted to go along.

Now I don't know what your schedule is like, but for me, every weekend is spent racing, training or working. During those races, I always thank the volunteers, because we all know that races wouldn't happen without them. Post race, I usually feel a brief moral obligation to return the favour and volunteer at a race; then the next race rolls around and I'm fit and ready to go for it, and not at all interested in sacrificing my racing schedule to go and volunteer. I've been participating in distance running, road cycling, mountain biking, triathlon, and most recently adventure racing since 2002 but this is only the third time I've volunteered. I was well overdue.

This time around, I had no excuses - I'm injured. I can't run, I can't ride and I'm only allowed to walk short distances. I needed to be at that race to live vicariously through people who weren't injured. Knowing that I'd be all but useless to my friend and his partner, I asked for the race organiser's details and popped off an email asking if I'd be helpful. Gary replied soon after to say they'd appreciate my help.

No doubt you'll read plenty of race reports for this event - this one is different. I'm going to tell you how awesome and rewarding it is to be a volunteer at one of these events.

I rocked up to the race HQ at 7:10 on Sunday morning to introduce myself and find out what I'd put myself in for. First up, Gary told us we'd be getting race shirts and caps. It's obviously necessary to be identifiable to competitors, but I didn't realise we'd get to keep the gear.

Next, we went through the registration process, and started answering questions, handing out team bags, checking disclaimer forms and ticking off entries - nothing too stressful, and made more fun by the company of the staff and other volunteers. As soon as we were finished, we were handed a great big bag of snacks with everything you could want, to keep us going throughout a long (but not excessively long day), before going on to our next tasks.

The race briefing was surprisingly entertaining, as Gary provided competitors with an explanation of the best way to carry their bikes on the kayaks. (Yes, you read that correctly.) I think the briefing was the only time I got to take any photos as well - the rest of the time I was very busy.

One of my tasks was sending pairs off on the mystery leg and checking their answers when they finished it. Yvette and I followed Gary down to the start of this section to familiarise ourselves with it - and ended up walking the entire course. If you've never been there, Hinze Dam has a lot of mountain biking tracks and they're awesome. I felt a brief pang of envy at not being able to ride the course. I know that everyone was riding very hard - I could tell by the sloppy, soggy answer sheets I was getting back!

Things were never quiet for long with competitors coming back through race HQ several times during the sprint race. Channel 9 made an appearance and it's great to see adventure racing getting some media coverage.

The post race lunch was ready long before the last competitors were rolling across the finish line but there was plenty for everyone, with staff still carrying plates of cake around during presentations to make sure no one missed out. The Red Bull car rocked up to give us free refreshments as well. Organisers used the lunch break to ask competitors for feedback and I think the presence of genuine single track was a big hit!

Before thanking his crew, the sponsors and the participants, Gary thanked the volunteers, and the competitors gave us a round of applause. I felt really, really important. As a competitor, you know how important the volunteers are, but as a volunteer you feel pretty insignificant. You don't realise how much of a difference you've made, until the race director makes a concerted effort to hunt you down and thank you for your efforts.

Most volunteers at these events are partners and friends of competitors. If you've got experience in the sport, your job is easier, because you know the drill and you can explain to beginners what's going to happen. I have to say that it was the best weekend I've had since I got injured, and I am sure it could've been even more fun if I wasn't injured, and was able to help at far-off checkpoints.

So whether you're injured, recovering from a hard race, or perfectly fit and just there to support a partner or friend, I urge you to give something back to the sport and volunteer. You might even enjoy it enough to volunteer again - I know I did!

Miss Tamyka Berendina Bell - Volunteer