Nice finish to the NYC Triathlon

I was a volunteer coordinator for the NYC Tri yesterday, handling the run course volunteers and one of the aid stations. The volunteers had been told that as soon as the last runner passes their station, they were free to leave.

About 6 hours into the race, the last guy hits the run course. He looked to be in his mid-50’s, on the heavy side, and with one arm. It was hot and humid, he’d probably been on the course for 5 hours and he was clearly struggling to finish.

As he passed each run course volunteer and aid station, rather than just packing up and going home, the volunteers started following him, encouraging him, ringing their cowbells, eliciting cheers from the other spectators and random people in the park. He looked like he was ready to quit a couple of times, but the volunteers kept urging him to keep going, and telling him that he’d made it this far and that they were going to stick with him to the finish line.

With each volunteer and aid station he passed, the crowd of orange “Race Support” shirts around him got bigger and bigger and louder and louder. The course marshals on their bikes joined the procession as well.

By the time he reached the finish chute, he had a crowd of at least 20-25 people surrounding him, calling his name, cheering for him, exhorting the crowd to do likewise. The guy barely looked like he could manage another step, but somehow he managed to jog up the finishing chute with his hand in the air. It was pretty cool. I was glad to be a part of it. I haven’t always been around to see the DFL finisher, so I don’t know if this is common, but it was a nice way to finish the event.


Edited by jmk-brooklyn 2009-07-27 10:40 AM