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London Tri - a volunteer's perspective

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  • huwdhuwd Posts: 228
    Wow - shouldnt be a shock regarding the amount of organisation behind the scenes but every one of the team that I spoke to were very helpful and some went out of their way to say hello to us confused looking competitors.

    The big question - would you do it again?
  • TRIumphantTRIumphant Posts: 850
    Thanks for the report, it seemed fairly striaghtforward form the racers point of view, but then turning up swimming, cycling and running is the easy part. I;ve volunteered at some low key events, but when there's only les than 100 competitors, it so much easier and quicker.

    The amount of organisation that went into the event must have been awesome, and I can say it's one that I won't forget.

    Will I do it again, not too sure, the logistics of getting there from South Wales was a bit of a bugger, and getting back out was even worse. My own fault, as I shoud have gone up the day before.

    All the volunteers I came across during the day were excellent, helpful and smiling, and I tried to go out of my way to thank them all as I passed them.

    Again, thanks for volunteering, without people like you we could only train and not race.
  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    Bl**dy H*ll Joolzd! What a fantastic insight! That wasn't a post, that was an article. Must have taken at least an hour to write. Fascinating stuff, hats off to you (and the other volunteers) - and the insight whats going on for 2012 - really great.

    I need a cup of coffee and lie down now.
  • Deeply impressed.

    Am now inspired to volunteer for some local events through September when I won't be able to compete.

    Fantastice stuff. I did London last year and now will never take the organisation of these events for granted.

    blurredgirl
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    Fantastic well done to you and ok the others.If Conehead is still looking for the odd chapter for his new book ,perhaps your article could be inserted as it would make triathletes be a little more understanding when they turn up and expect everything to be done for them.
  • SuzieDSuzieD Posts: 12
    I am so gratefully for all the wonderful volunteers on Sunday. I met two in my hotel at 5am on sunday as we were all leaving to go to Excel - amazingly they were the ones near the end of the run and remembered to say 'hi' each time they saw me.

    It was the first time I had been and I was astounded by how well organised it was, apart from the huge queue for racking for the first wave which was quite stressful as I didn't think I was going to have enough time to sort myself out.

    I was so grateful for all the really friendly marshals who kept saying 'Keep Going' and the one out in the middle of the run when I was having a little walk who said 'Your almost there, last lap and you are almost home' I have no idea how she recognised me amongst the thousands of others who were there but it was great

    Now I am just trying to decide whether to do it again next year or tackle a half Iron Man......

    My thanks goes to everyone who was there are supported all the participants
  • iadamaiadama Posts: 60
    Well done joolz, a great perspective on the event. Many thanks to you and all of the other volunteers who made it run as smoothly as it did. When I came to collect my chip I did want to thank you in person for sorting the hotel reservation out but wasn't able to find you. Thanks again though
  • Yeah it all ran very smoothly for us, despite my having forgotten the form to register our team, the envelope was sat there with a spare inside ready to go.
    I was confused at first by the chip collection signs and so having registered our team at the team registration desks and received our chip, I then wondered over to the chip collection tables wondering what else i needed to collect in terms of chips and tried to register again, the nerves were over riding common sense ..

    Thanks, and a great write-up .. made me want to be there doing it too.
    clockwork ..
  • cadburycadbury Posts: 1
    A fabulous post and a huge thanks to your good self and the team for your work.

    On a personal note I was really grateful this year for the support of the helpers. I had huge problems in the swim this year with cramp and ended up hypothermic as it took me so long! From the concerned lady in the canoe to the medical team ( good old St Johns) and the friendly supportive marshals I was eventually able to continue with the event after being wrapped up like a turkey in a space blanket for some time....and managed to complete the event quite strongly! (although I'm not sure if I ever did go across the timing chip at the end of the swim as I was hauled off to medical tent. For all I know my swim time could still be recording )

    I don't think we really appreciate the huge amount of work that goes behind the organisation of these events. Without you guys we couldn't do it! So thanks
  • joolzdjoolzd Posts: 245
    Meant to post some key facts and figures for you from the IMG Team...so here you go!

    1. How many volunteers (excluding team leaders and Assistants) do you get each day?
    ...150 volunteers, 6 ATL’s, 12TL’s

    2. Do you use many organisations like Newham?
    Yes – clubs such as Kempshot runners, Clapham Chasers, Leyton Swimming Club all volunteer’d at London. In exchange, we supply a bursary of £20 per person, per day to the club.

    3. When do you start organising the event?
    We have 7 or 8 events in a year that we are working on in at various levels throughout the year. Although the majority of the work goes on between June and August, I have already put a number of things in place for London 2010, and I’ve only been back in the office for a day and a half

    4. How many IMG staff do you have working over the weekend?
    25 give or take a handfull

    5. How much sleep over the weekend did you, Yvonne and David get?
    Not a lot Friday night 4 hours, Saturday night 3 hours

    6. How many marshalls on the bike and run?
    We do not put our marshals on the roads – this is done by trained road closure stewards. We therefore only require marshals for the bike in/ bike out and ramps in / out of ExCel (total=13) Run = 26

    7. How many on the Swim? 15

    8. How many referees? 20

    9. How much raised for Charity (roughly - think it was mentioned in the presentation)
    Approx 2.5 million

    10.Is the run/bike route determined by the London Council? Are they a nightmare to work with (I know for events I’ve done they have been horrendous)...!!
    This has been the same course for a nuof years. This requires numerous meetings with TFL, London Busses, Met Police, Fire service, Westminster, Tower Hamlets, Newham, our Traffic Management Company, our Route Safety Team (Trafeco), me, Jon and Yvonne, who sit round a table and work out how we can all work together to minimise the effect of the event on London and residents. This is a huge task and is almost Yvonne’s full time job leading up to the event. However, the event has been running for a number of years now, and its getting easier!

    Just a few interesting facts around the event to share...
  • gingertrigingertri Posts: 277
    Blimey huge congratulations Joolzd and any marshalls and organisers on here! without you guys these things would never happen!
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