TOTW: How do you give back?

Great topic.

#1 way to give back is volunteer at races.  I do this a couple of times per year.  Cool to see others trying their hardest and you get to observe pain-free. 

*** On a side note, if you are racing and your spouse and kids are there to watch, there is NO better way for them to pass the time than to hand out water at an aid station.  Time flys by, they get to see you and they encourage other racers.  ***

#2 way is to cheer on your friends.  We went down to cheer everyone on at West Point Lake.  Had a great time.

#3 way is to cheer on your fellow athletes no matter how good or bad your day is going.  During my MS150 ride, I got tired of saying "on your left".  So I started to say "great job", "keep going", etc.  Yes, I did most of the passing and the people I passed (who were struggling) might not have liked to hear "great job" as I'm blowing by them, but who cares. 

I also give back through my work.  I sit on the volunteer committee which means I have to own 2 events per year.  This year, my first even was as a build day captain for Habitat for Humanity.  Its a great organization and a perfect way to give back to Atlanta.  The second event I will do is Family Volunteer day in the fall where I get to make-up my activity.  We usually do Piedmont Park cleanup or something similar.

And this isn't "giving back" but I do this a lot (and think if you make over $80K in this country there is no reason not to) is to have dinner someplace cheap like Waffle House and leave a tip bigger than my total bill.  Those folks work just as hard if not harder than most and are paid nothing. 

Great topic, Ron.

Volunteering at races is fun and rewarding and perhaps there's something to that whole race karma thing.  I agree with Jonathan that cheering at races is also a way to give back.  Everyone needs more cowbell in a race .

I volunteered as a race director for an indoor tri this year.  The purpose of the tri was to recruit people to the sport.  It allowed them to get a feel for triathlon under controlled conditions in a place in which they felt comfortable.  It was rewarding to see a physically challenged athlete who never dreamed he could finish a triathlon do just that.  A large number of participants signed up for tris together after completing the indoor tri... definitely a success in terms of helping people catch "the bug".  I am hoping to expand this role to include a kids tri next year.

I also like to register for events that support charities.  Most notably, I've done the Three-Day Walk for breast cancer in the past.  This year, however, I'm going to be riding the MS 150 instead.  MS awareness and research is a cause near and dear to my heart as you can read here.

Outside of athletic events, I volunteer my time to children with special needs and their families in a variety of ways.  The families with whom I work often have very limited resources and are in desperate need of respite care.  I help them get the right supports in place for the kids, and sometimes provide direct support myself.

I enjoy volunteering as much as racing. The event that we do as a club are great and exactly what we all need to do to give back to our sport.

That all being said I think that there is more that we can all do to give back to our communities in general.

Here's an idea..I am amazed at how much I love the sport (even though it is my first year in it) and I am always looking to try to get others who would not normally think of trying a triathlon to give one a shot......one of my goals this year, aside from training and race related goals is to try and bring 2-3 new people to the sport.  In doing so, if they become hooked also, I want them to then make it a goal to bring 1-2 new people to the sport.... a pyramid of sorts, but for triathlons....just a thought.  I have not done so yet, but also want to volunteer soon...I really dig the volunteers....I probabaly lose precious race time at each event just making sure I thank as many of them as I can.....haha

Brian

For me, there are three ways I tend to give back to the sport: race day volunteering (be it water stop or officiating), Team-in-Training (introducing new people to the sport while supporting an awesome cause + program to address it) and mentoring or helping others new to the sport.

Be it as it may, giving back is a huge aspect of our sport and something I believe we as triathletes do better than most organized groups (be it runners or civic clubs).

I try to give back in different ways.  I recently joined the new membership committee for my tri club.  It's myself and another member, and when a new person joins, we contact them and email them, welcome them to the club and set up a time to meet up to give them their membership materials.  We try to share what we've done in terms of triathlon and find out if they need any advice or help.  I like the idea that it's really welcoming and makes people feel like they belong. 

I love volunteering at races - when I ran ING, I came back to mile 25 and cheered for another hour or two for all the runners.  I volunteered at Acworth last year and am going to be at IronGirl and IMFL this year.  It's fun to help out when you know that people are there supporting your own races. 

Our club also has a volunteer group, so I help out there.

Lastly, I keep a blog that has really helped motivate other beginners in the sport.  That is really more for me, but in turn, has helped other people.  

I would love to do TNT sometime, I wish I had the guts for fundraising like others do.  I did Avon 3 Day a few years ago and it wiped me out in terms of fundraising.  That's tough work!