Volunteers

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Hall County Middle School programs get a little spoiled all the schools host their own race, some of them two. In High School XC, most teams do not get to host a home meet...so the fact that we host the War Eagle Invitational here at Chestatee is a great thing for our athletes and spectators! That being said, we are also the hosts...not the spectators. That means we will be spending more time serving our guests, rather than spectating...especially if many of our athlete's parents do not sign up to volunteer. In other sports programs, parents are 'strongly requested' to help volunteer in at least 2-3 events...we are just asking for our parents to volunteer at our War Eagle Invitational.

Many hands make light work when putting on a cross country event. A brunt of the volunteer responsibility falls on the Booster Club members and their spouses. While it is not always possible, we like to find volunteers to take shifts that will allow our runner's parents to at least see their kids run in their events. This helps when Middle School parents sign up during High School races and High School parents sign up to help during the Middle School races.

VOLUNTEER SIGN UP

Scan the QR code to access our Sign Up Genius for our event.

BEFORE THE RACE

COURSE MAINTENANCE WORK BEE
About 2-3 weeks before our race, we will call a work bee to help get the course ready. This event usually takes place on a Saturday morning from about 7am until 11am.

Tasks required are:

Clearing debris from trails
Grading and Leveling washout areas
Spray painting roots
Pruning overhanging branches up 8 feet
Mowing and trimming weeds down in the lower meadow
Taking inventory of race supplies

RACE COURSE SETUP
Friday morning before the race, we will setup and define the race course starting on the high school side of the course at 8am and starting with the middle school field of the course after 3pm (due to MS recess).

Some tasks that are needed during this setup are:

Staking out Starting Area and Finish Chute
Placing signage out on the course
Close off unused trails and possible shortcuts with tape
Mark course in open field with flags
Mow grass covered areas on course at low setting
Move concessions into proper area
Apply spray paint to necessary areas
Clear the course of any debris one last time before the race

RACE COURSE MAINTENANCE 'MINUTE MEN'
During the Revolutionary War, the Minute Men were a group of militia that were "ready at a minutes notice" in the event they had to organize a defense. While not as dramatic, we need to have the same mentality here. Last minute storms the night before a meet can wreak havoc on a trail that is ready to go. In the event storms are in the forecast, this crew is put on standby to be ready to show up EARLY to clear any debris, water, and/or trees that may cause issues with getting our race started by 7:30am. If storms are in the forecast within 24 hours to the race start, this team will appoint a "first responder" to check the trail system after the storm passes to evaluate the health of the actual race course. In the event that significant debris will need to be removed, they will alert the rest of the minutemen to report for duty at a designated time in the morning (may vary depending on how much debris there is).

It is beneficial if these volunteers have ready access to gas-powered leaf blowers, chainsaws, and landscape equipment for quick debris removal.

DAY OF RACE

PARKING LOT / GATE ATTENDANTS
Because of the layout of the parking lots at CHS, we need parking attendants to help move traffic in an orderly fashion to 1) keep Sardis Road from backing up, 2) direct cars towards those taking entry money, and 3) direct traffic towards the WEST and SOUTH parking lots closest to the race. For a 7:30am start time, cars will start arriving around 6:00am, so these volunteers need to be on-site no later than 5:45am.

RACE MARSHALS
Marshals serve an important role in our race. They are enforcers of 'fair play' to make sure all runners are staying on the marked trails and not pushing each other. They also serve as visual aids to help direct runners in the right direction. Because we offer two different races, the course has several splits where runners could easily run the wrong way if they were not paying attention.

We have split our 5K course into ten (10) zones where it is optimal to have at least one (1) race marshal. To keep things simple, we kept the same zone numbers for our 2-mile course, but do not utilize zones 5 and 6 on the shorter 2-mile course.

Zones 2 and 8 double as bus traffic directors as their post is where the course crosses the bus lane.

BONUS: While we do not try to schedule you during your child's race, being a Race Marshal does allow you a unique vantage point of watching the runners in the woods (as spectators are not allowed in the woods). Might we also mention that on a hot and sunny day, the woods are usually about 10 degrees cooler than in the spectator areas.

5K Race Marshal Zones

2-Mile Race Marshal Zones

WATER STATION ATTENDANTS
We have placed two (2) watering stations out on the courses (they are located in ZONE 8 and the FINISH AREA both races). Your job is to pass out water to runners that need it. Those helping in the FINISH AREA will help lead runners out of the finishing chute and towards their team tent (or Athletic Trainers tent).

CONCESSIONS
The CHSXC Booster Club is selling drinks, candy, snacks, and raffle tickets to help raise funds for the team. We need volunteers to help out as many of the boosters also have kids that are running during the event, so we would like to give them a break to see their kids run.

JANITORIAL
This job is pretty simple. We utilize the bathrooms up on the Stadium Concourse and a line of Port-o-pottys down near the Baseball/Softball Press Box. Your job is to make sure toilet paper is available and that the bathrooms stay as clean as possible. A plunger might be needed from time to time, but this job is really easier than the title sounds.

EVENT SECURITY
Our fantastic SROs from the Hall County Sheriffs Office help us out with this task...not really a volunteer opportunity, but more so an excuse to give them a shout out whenever we can!

AFTER THE RACE

CLEAN UP
Sadly, all good XC events must come to an end. All of the hard work we put in to mark, stake, and setup the course must be undone and returned to pre-race condition. We need help pulling up stakes, collecting flags, pulling signage, making sure trash is picked up, help transport unsold concessions, folding up tents and tables, putting away water coolers, and clearing the lower field. Many hands make light work and the whole clean up process can be done in about 60 to 90 minutes with enough help.

VOLUNTEER SIGN UP

Scan the QR code to access our Sign Up Genius for our event.

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