Out of excitement to volunteer and be part of a great cause to 'Help Make a Difference', I was wide awake the night before of 'Recycle Feed Run' event that was hosted by HyperSports Philippines. A mug of hot coffee and a quick shower at half past midnight made me more alert. Then I phoned the most trusted taxi company, Basic, to drive me to Bonifacio Global City. 10 minutes later, taxi arrived so off I went.
I arrived at the venue a few minutes after 2 in the morning. There were already a few people at the venue when I got there but I don't know what my team members look like so I started texting them to let them know where I am. Some of them were there much earlier than I was, so soon enough my entire team was complete.
As we waited for our turn to register and for our shirts and I.D.s, I briefly told them what we were going to do:
Okay team, we are going to give away water, coco quench, banana and ice-cold sponges to the runners. Which means, later we will be shouting: "Water!" "Coco Quench!" "Banana!" and "Sponge!" so that they know what we got for them.
We will be divided into two stations, and that's Aid station 3 and 4.
Then I picked who are going with me and assigned Freddie to lead the other station. It was taking ages queueing for the shirt and I.D. so I went to get the meal for the group. After getting the Hungarian sausage sandwiches for the team, I ran to get the team's shirts, holding on to the list of names and their shirt sizes. Thanks to Mr. Jobert dela Victoria who assisted me in getting the shirts for my team.
Unexpectedly, our ride to the stations was a delivery truck!
My first thought was:
Is this a safe ride for me and my team, especially the girls?
Nonetheless, I hopped in without a hint of hesitation. As a matter of fact, I ended up enjoying the ride and we even took photos (which can be viewed here) of ourselves!
A few minutes drive later, I faced another surprise that morning. They were dropping us off at station 2 because there were no one to man that station. So I quickly decided who to assign there. I sent Ron, his wife and Floro.
At station 3, I decided to send Freddie, Arlyn and Patrick. With me at station 4 are Dentist Amy, Glads and Arnold.
I should mention as well the kind help of gentlemen who delivered the goods. Thanks to them, whose names I forgot.
The first few runners that reached our station were Kenyans who mostly ignored our offers of water, coconut juice, banana or sponges. Most of them just kept running in long strides. Some have asked nothing but water.
I took photos with my dslr whenever my hands are free. I'm glad that some runners would stop to strike a happy or wacky pose so I did take their photos (viewable here). To my dismay though, my hands went sticky from bananas so I wasn't able to take photos as much as I wanted to.
On the contrary, I'm proud of my team who cheered the runners as they reach our station. Well, we were all cheering them on non-stop, down to the last runner:
Good morning runners!
Go, go runners! You can do it!
Whenever I saw runners throwing the empty cups to the garbage bin, I shout:
I love you, responsible runner!
At the end of the day, us volunteers were overwhelmingly joyous for being a part of a great cause and for serving runners. Most of us are runners too so we know what runners want. Cheering them on and greeting them wholeheartedly was our way of saying "We care!". I hope we made all runners of "Recycle Feed Run" happy.
Thank you HyperSports Philippines for letting us be a part of this advocacy. See you again next time!
