Bike-Marshalling Is Another Form of Low Intensity Training Too
Since last year, I am a volunteer bike marshall for various running events in the Bay Area: the Oakland Marathon, the San Francisco Ultra Marathon, and the Berkeley Half Marathon.
Unfortunately, being the bike marshal does not involve any silver star. Equipped with a radio, our job is to be the ears and eyes of the organization on the course. We typically ride with the lead male and female runners. We relay the mile markers where they are in the race. We call back about hazards, such as cars that entered the parkour, or runners that jump into other lanes.
It is stressful when cars enter the parkour, or when the cones or fences are misplaced. Runners call out “Where to?”. You don’t want to mess up their personal best or qualification chances for a bigger race.
It is also a lot of fun. The crowd not only cheers on the runners, they also love the bike marshals. And you get to ride on a closed circuit in the cities.
This past weekend, I was the bike marshal for the Berkeley Half Marathon. This run takes you to UC Berkeley Campus, into the hills, and along the Bay. The pace is fast as it is only a half marathon. And there are some hills, so you must anticipate the climb as runners tend to catch you on the hill.
While I didn’t do any hard rides this weekend, I did do some low intensity rides through Berkeley, both on Saturday and Sunday. My Garmin counted them as “Recovery”.
Looking forward to more cold weather rides and hoping that the upcoming atmospheric river heading to the Bay Area doesn’t ruin my plans in the coming week.
My fundraising is taking off too: I reached $500.
