Recently I was setting up a booth at an expo when I began thinking about how much work goes into planning an event. I wondered if race participants had any idea of how many planning hours and meetings were spent on making their race day possible. The amount of people and organizations that fretted over what resources would be needed for the event and where those resources would be located.

In my previous life, I was attached to a major Incident Command Team for the state of California. Our team responded to large scale incidents such as wildland fires, earthquakes, and disasters anywhere in the state. The team consisted of experienced and seasoned personnel specializing in their assigned position on the team. The rationale for having the state teams was for public and crew safety and responsible fiscal management. If you have ever seen a large-scale disaster in CA, you would have seen the team in place within the first 24 hours and fully functioning. One section of the team is logistics.  They are the folks tasked with supporting the troops. Examples of their duties include feeding, vehicle care, safety, accommodations, and medical needs, to name a few. Fire camps on some incidents can support over 5,000 - 10,000 people depending on the incident. There is a lot of thought and planning that goes into play similar to large scale races. Think about when you show up to an event; parking, security, and traffic control are in place. When you look over the grounds you will probably see at least one ambulance and/or medical tent. What about those water stations, portable potties and wash stations?  The entertainment and vendor area with the booths was also planned out. All the folks working and volunteering to help support the race, yep them too.  Shirts and race medals design and development. Permits for the event had to be submitted to the local entities for approval prior to any of the above. We as race participants can sometimes forget about others when we become so focused on running the race. If you have an opportunity to thank a volunteer or worker working at a race, let them know how much you appreciate their contributions to make your race day possible. For without them, our best race day wouldn't be doable.