Date: Tuesday April 2nd, 2019
Subject: Zumbro Volunteer Communication 3 2019
Hello Friends!
You are receiving this email because you have signed up to volunteer for the Zumbro Endurance Run – Friday April 12th and Saturday April 13th, 2019. For those of you who signed up more recently – copies of previous emails can be found on our website HERE http://www.zumbroendurancerun.com/volunteer-updates/ should you like to review them.
Please forgive the long email but we have quite a few things to get through – Please take the time to read through this when you get a chance, it is about a 7 minute read! This will be the last big group email to all volunteers prior to the race.
Thanks again to everyone that has signed on to volunteer for the 2019 Zumbro Endurance Run, we have a really impressive group of over 240 volunteers for this years event and are now about a week and a half out! We could not put on such a great event without your help. I say this without boasting or bragging, but we have one of the strongest volunteer groups of any trail / ultrarunning community in the country – those of you who have been to races out of state know first hand, that the support and selflessness here is quite staggering! We currently have runners from 21 states and three countries registered to run: 100MI=117, 50MI=275, 17MI=531, TOTAL= 923
A list of volunteer assignments can be found HERE http://www.zumbroendurancerun.com/volunteer-assignments/ – if you see any mistakes in available times or positions or see something that will not work for you, please let us know, we are very flexible. Please keep in mind that you may have been assigned more than one job, so please search for your name (you can search by last name or you can sort the table by clicking on the column header rows.) There could be a few minor tweaks between now and race day, so please be sure to check the list the week of the race. Info on each specific volunteer job can be found HERE http://www.zumbroendurancerun.com/volunteer-jobs/ HAM Radio Operators please note that your specific assignments / times will be handled by Brendan Johnson via direct communication with him.
Please be sure to review the website and specifically the volunteer section in its entirety so you are 100% up to speed on what is going on (printing out what anything you feel you need), where you are going, how to get there, what you are doing, what is provided and what you need to bring – again, all of this can be found on the website – if you still have questions, please be sure to let us know.
A few other quick things to note:
• THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM – WEATHER AND CONDITIONS: Knock on wood, conditions in the bottoms are currently really good, that said, we all know things can change so please come prepared for anything. Over the last couple of years we no longer allow runners crews and spectators permission to drive to Aid Station 1/4 (and thus 2/3), they may hike over from the Start / Finish area OR ride the shuttle vans we will be providing. The road to Aid Station 1/4 is currently in really poor shape, but we expect improvements (more snow and ice to melt) in the coming days. As of right now, we are saying that volunteers working 1/4 and 2/3, who have high clearance vehicles (4WD a bonus, but not required) will be allowed to drive down, others will have to park at the Start / Finish area and ride a shuttle over or walk over (approx 1 mile to Aid Station 1/4) – for those driving down, we encourage carpooling as parking in limited. At this time, assume you will be able to drive down but if conditions do not improve enough OR deteriorate further (due to heavy rains or snow) we will send an email to those working aid stations 1/4 and 2/3 informing them of the conditions and any changes.
• Even when we have warm days at Zumbro it usually gets pretty cold overnight, so please be sure to bring warm clothes; think down jacket and other winter stuff especially for those late night shifts.
• There is always the potential for mud so bring appropriate footwear (and rain gear – hopefully we won’t need it!)
• There are toilets at the Start / Finish area and at Aid Station 1/4 – however, there are no toilets at Aid Station 2/3 as this is a remote aid station – you either have to use the woods or walk back to Aid Station 1/4 (about a 10 minute walk).
• For those working really long shifts (many of you) please work with your aid station captain and those in your group to rotate out and get some rest, feel free to bring a tent, sleeping bag etc so you can catch some Z’s we do not want, need or expect anyone to try to stay awake for two days straight!
• You are welcome to all the aid station food you can eat but you may get tired of it… you may want to pack a lunch so you have something you like.
• Feel free to put your own personal touches on the aid station and please work with your aid station captain to plan an extra more substantial food item (burgers, pizza, vegetarian or vegan items – whatever sounds good and you know you can pull off)!
• Aid station captains, please coordinate with the HAM Radio Operators, they will need a couple of helpers to help call and record bib numbers of runners (runner tracking) and this is a good job for injured runners 😉 – aid stations are staffed really well so it should not be an issue rotating volunteers into that position.
• Name badges on lanyards. In the aid station bins will be lanyards with name badge holders and magic markers to write down your name on the card and insert into the holder. Bare with me – I know not everyone loves name tags but just as we have found with the runners (having their names printed on their bibs) we have found 1.) we meet so many people on race weekend that it is hard to remember everyone’s name and 2.) knowing peoples names and truly getting to know people builds community – please if you will, participate!
• In the event of a medical emergency you will want to do the following a.) locate the medical person at your aid station and / or b.) notify the HAM Radio operators of the situation so they can call for emergency services if needed. Keep in mind there is no cell coverage at Zumbro except up on top of the bluffs.
• Need to know what we are providing at the aid stations? A list can be found HERE http://www.zumbroendurancerun.com/aid-station-supplies/
• Never worked an aid station and want to learn more? You can do that HERE http://www.zumbroendurancerun.com/aid-stations-101/
• Confused about the area or where to go? You can learn much HERE http://www.zumbroendurancerun.com/maps-and-data/
• We will still take a couple of helpers at our place in Hastings on Sunday from about 9AM until 2PM if you would like to help us cleanup from the aftermath, let us know!
Below is a list of aid station captains and their email addresses should you want to coordinate anything with them prior to race day – they have been here and done it and know the ropes so feel free to contact them directly, you can report directly to them when you arrive as well. – Everyone else should report directly to me – John Storkamp or Cheri Storkamp at the start / finish area, medical folks can also look for Chalayne Palmgren OR if she is already out at 1/4 or 2/3 – you can look for Paul Schlagel at the Start / Finish area. HAMS look for Brendan Johnson.
Your T-Shirts will be at the aid-station that you have been assigned to with the aid station captain except Aid Station 5 and other non-aid station positions, your shirts can be picked up from the merchandise booth at the start / finish area.
Aid Station 1/4 (Fri-Sat)
Kurt Decker
Aid Station 2/3 (Friday Day)
Mark Johnson
Aid Station 2/3 (Friday Overnight)
Brian Woods
Aid Station 2/3 (Saturday Day)
Karen Gall
Aid Station 5 (Fri-Sat)
Jamison Swift
HAM Radio Coordinator
Brendan Johnson
Medical Lead
Chalayne Palmgren – Mostly at AS 1/4 but can be dispatched to AS 2/3
Paul Schlagel – AS 5 – Start / Finish Area
* Also, new this year, we are very excited to announce we will have stand-by ambulance coverage staffed with two Paramedics all day on Saturday at the start / finish area starting around 8:00AM.
That is all for now, this will probably be the last group email before the race unless something of note comes up. I leave for the race site on the Tuesday prior to the race and from then on will only check email and voicemail a couple of times a day, so please, if you have questions or need to get in touch with me, please do so sooner than later and do not be afraid to email, text, Facebook MSG or pick up the phone!
Thank You,
John Storkamp
Race Director
[email protected]