21 weeks, 5 full days of volunteering at Dragon’s Back Race and 16 laps of Wythenshawe Park

I had first found out about this race several years ago and thought the concept of Dragon Mail was really cool. Because some of the campsites where the runners stayed overnight did not have phone signal, runners are able to have their ‘post’ of supportive messages given to them by the race organisers, presumably by email printouts.

This week really gave me an insight into what the environment for the runners in between the racing is like. We had a very early start at Conwy Castle on Monday morning and I helped with setting up the Berghaus feather signs/hanging banners from railings etc. We then drove to the Day 1 finish and I got to put up my measly 1 man backpackers tent before helping with setting up 55 Berghaus 8 man tents with the rest of the camp team

We had lunch and then I learnt the structure for the rest of the days that would be the same until Friday evening. The vans travelling to the campsites with overnight bags would be unloaded and sorted into groups of 70-100 in numerical order. When runners came in, we would carry their overnight bag and smaller day bag to their tent whilst discussing their day with them if they wanted, then return to the other 400ish bags until all of the runners were accounted for. Apart from getting asked to help out the catering team with clearing away the next morning or making sandwiches and hot drinks, this was largely my daily commitments with short breaks in between.

The event had several other teams which all helped each other out. There was a real camaraderie amongst everyone and the level of commitment you’d expect from a group largely made up of runners ‘amped’ up on caffeine looking for jobs to help out with doing! Since most of us were completionists by nature it was good fun to be able to work in teams on tasks and that everyone would stick at it until its finished

I had a few amusing moments throughout the week such as having a wash in the river with another volunteer then hanging my towel from a tree as I couldn’t find anywhere else for it to dry.

There was also a few nice breaks that involved cakes, coffee as well as small amounts of beers and whisky

It was a really special finishers ceremony. The race director Shane thanked the event team which was great to have our efforts acknowledged by him and the participants. There was also plenty of partners and family members who were obviously pleased to see the runners after 5 days apart. It was particularly touching to see how non-runners saw the injuries/strains that were picked up over 5 days of mountain running and I had a lump in my throat seeing 200+ people rise out of their chairs to give a standing ovation from the back of the room for the women’s winner who had turned a very small lead of a few minutes at the end of day 4 into a 2 hour gap at the end on the last day.

I finished the week with 16 laps of Wythenshawe Park today which were a little difficult to start with but I settled into after about lap 6. I had my friend Kate join me for the last 5 laps which helped having her cajole me into a slightly faster pace for those.

It’s been really enjoyable spending time amongst runners for most of this week. I was amazed how many conversations about areas of the sport that interest me I could get involved in. I think I would definitely like to volunteer at some of Ourea’s one day events in the future and am looking forward to seeing if I can get out of the first day of the Dragon’s Back Race in 2021. I hopefully will increase my expectations once I have more mountain experience. There’s nothing quite like setting my goals high!