2025 Race Into The Finals 5K Review

I wasn’t planning on volunteering for this race but when I got word that Mickey Rzymek and Josh Ritchie needed help I decided to lend my assistance.   I was hoping that I would be inside eating donuts and helping with packet pick up but that was not the case.  Kent State had plenty of student helpers for registration duties.  Instead I was outside in the rain setting up the start finish area with Team ER member Kevin Christensen who also volunteered.  Turns out that Kevin and I were very much needed as the crew consisted of just Mickey, Josh, and one paid helper from Ritchie’s Sporting Goods.  

The four of us constructed the start / finish area while Josh set up the course.  The rain was really coming down making working conditions not so pleasant.  Just before the start of the race Kevin and I received a crash course in the timing system to be used.  For whatever reason the race organizer decided not to have the event chip timed so we quickly learned the manual method of timing.  I worked the official timing device while Kevin recorded each bib number of the finishers.  

I give a lot of credit to the runners and walkers that showed up and raced in the heavy rain.   After the final racers crossed the finish line we worked quickly to deconstruct the finish line and pack everything up into the waiting trucks.  I was impressed with the organization and speed at which everything was packed up.  You could tell Josh and Mickey had done this more than a few times.  

After everything was cleaned up I went inside.  Thankfully there were a few donuts left as well as some snacks remaining.   I typically really enjoy volunteering to help at races.  I can’t really say that helping at this race was enjoyable with all the rain, but I would do it again in a heartbeat to help Josh and Mickey.   Thanks to Kevin for also helping!