Welcome to the March 2018
Western Reserve Racing Volunteer Newsletter!
You've received this newsletter because you've volunteered in the past at one of our races or have expressed a desire to volunteer at one of our future races.
This newsletter provides updates on our volunteer program and volunteer opportunities.
Thanks to everyone who volunteered at our recent events including the Mo Marathon and Half Marathon and Dirty Love 10K!!!
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UPCOMING EVENTS
All Western Reserve Racing events require volunteers, some more than others. All of our current opportunities are listed on our
web site
.
The next few races that require volunteers are:
- Fools 50K and 25K - Saturday, March 31, Camp Manatoc, Peninsula. NOTE: Volunteers still needed for Fools Race Day Packet Pickup and Race Day parking.
- Flirt with Dirt 10K - Saturday, April 21, Oak Hill Trail Head (CVNP), Peninsula
- Rubber Ducks 5K - Saturday, May 12, Canal Park, Akron
- Down and Dirty 5M - Friday May 25, Pine Hollow (CVNP), Peninsula
- Green Jewel 50K/25K - Saturday, June 2, Oak Grove (CMP), Brecksville
- Burning River Endurance Runs and Relays - Saturday, July 28-29, Squire's Castle, Willoughby Hills
Volunteers are needed for parking assistance, course marking, packet pickup, aid stations, course sweeping and more!
(Note: if you are running the race you can still volunteer for race day packet pickup at the event and then run the race.)
You can also register to volunteer at any of our races on our web site. Go to the
Races page
and click on the event name to go to the page for that race - e.g. click "Green Jewel 50K and 25K" - and then click on the green Volunteer tab. Scroll down to the volunteer opportunity(ies) that interest you and complete the registration form.
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NEXT ENDURANCE RACE: GREEN JEWEL
Help is wanted for our next endurance run, the Green Jewel 50K and 25K in the Cleveland Metroparks on Saturday, June 2.
Beginning at Oak Grove in Brecksville, the course follows the All Purpose Trail (aka bike path) through the Metroparks to Rocky River. This year we've replaced the two-person relay with a 25K that starts in Berea.
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Scott Bakalar
is our March Volunteer of the Month!!!
Yet another Western Reserve Racing “late bloomer”, March 2018 Volunteer of the Month Scott Bakalar began running only 4 years ago at the tender age of 53. As a teenager during the 1970’s Scott could never quite get the knack of running in his Chuck Taylor’s, nor in his Army boots in the 1980’s – as running in the service was mandatory, involuntary, non-negotiable and absolutely no fun at all! The 90’s and 2000’s always seemed to be chocked full of too many other things to be interested and involved in – and it wasn’t until late 2013 when Scott’s wife quit smoking and decided she wanted to start running that Scott consented to running voluntarily with her in a Couch to 5K program (note from Scott: "as all supportive husbands should").
For some reason, this time around – the running became enjoyable, the drive and discipline kicked in and it stuck. 2014 was a year of 5K’s. 2015 added 2 half-marathons. Scott then ran his first 2 Marathons in 2016, followed in 2017 with 2 more Marathons and his first 50K – a pretty typical running learning curve. Volunteering was also a part of Scott;'s learning curve and seemed to be a very natural progression. “I had met so many new friends and reconnected with old friends, learned so much from, and was tremendously inspired by them, that giving back to the Northeast Ohio running community via volunteering at races was an easy extension of my running. I also got to have experiences with races that I wasn’t ready to actually participate in yet. So the volunteering has been just as an important part of my growth as a runner as most of my workouts have been!”
Scott has enjoyed those enriching volunteer experiences at the 2016 Buckeye Trail 50K - Pine Lane aid station, 2016 Burning River 100 - Richmond Road crossing / Botzum aid station, 2017 Buckeye Trail 50K - Oak Grove packet pick-up, 2017 Green Jewel - Wallace Lake aid station, 2017 Burning River 100 - Botzum aid station and at the 2018 Winter Buckeye Trail - Oak Grove aid station.
Next up this year Scott will be running the 2018 Green Jewel 50K, Buckeye Trail 50K and the Akron Marathon. If he can’t form or grab a spot on a Burning River 100 Relay team this summer, you, for sure, can meet up with him again volunteering at the Botzum aid station pulling an all-nighter. Scott had applied for the NYC Marathon lottery, but wasn’t chosen this year – so he’ll be looking for a challenging November/December race as well!
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VOLUNTEER REWARDS
Western Reserve Racing appreciates race volunteers and we want to show it!
In addition to race day fun, Volunteers will receive a $5 race discount for each task for which they volunteer. These discounts can be used separately or stacked on top of each other for greater discounts at other Western Reserve Racing events including Dirty Trail races, Endurance Races and the Burning River 100 Endurance Run and Relay.
To get volunteer rewards you must register online as a volunteer.
A list of available Volunteer Credits is linked on the
Volunteer for a Race
page on our web site.
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QUESTIONS?
Western Reserve Racing is a small business that employs local runners. We're 100% committed to providing you with a top-notch race experience from registration to the finish line.
If you have any questions at all, or if there's something you think we can do better, please hit REPLY to this email, or send us a message at
info@westernreserveracing.com
and allow us the opportunity to assist you.
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THANK YOU
We're in this together, and giant smiles on the faces of awesome runners is why we do what we do!
Thank you for volunteering with Western Reserve Racing. We hope to see you at the next race!
Jim, Joe, and Vince
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