SCE Members Volunteer at Dirt Inspires

This past weekend SCE members Elise, Laura, Rebecca, and I (Meg) volunteered at the Dirt Inspires Race in Nisene Marks. The Dirt Inspires half marathon is in its third year and for the first time also offered 4 and 8 mile versions of the race. The course is challenging (2425 feet in climbing) but beautiful.

Love the Nisene trails

Runners weave through the trails

Laura at the start

Rebecca and her friend Erin worked the four mile mark/8 mile race turn around. Elise manned the first creek crossing. Laura and I ran as sweepers, covering the whole course, making sure no runners were left behind, and picking up the trail markers for the racers. This was perfect for me as I needed to get in a long run that day anyway. Before the race began Elise and Rebecca headed off to their stations. Laura and I started with the runners but took a quick pit stop to get out some flyers for a nutrition study and took a longer stop at the entrance station to take photos of the 4 and 8 mile runners. After getting a good distance between ourselves and the racers, Laura and I were off on the course, complete with some neon vests! Along the way we also saw SCE runners Aaron and Julian out for their Sunday run with Jamey from Santa Cruz Running.

Laura and I in all our neon glory

We met up with Elise at the first large creek crossing. I made no effort to stay on the rocks and just got my feet wet (which actually felt good). After a few photos, Laura and I started back up the trail. We came upon one of the 8 mile runners and chatted with her a bit. The longest distance she had ran before Sunday was 5 miles so she was very excited to be completing the 8 miles. She had a great spirit and it was fun meeting her.

Laura, myself, and Elise at the creek crossing

Helping a runner across the creek

After the trails, we were back on the fire road for just a bit. But we were there long enough to see Michelle from SCTC sprinting down the hill in 4th place. She ended up finishing the race in 3rd place. She’s such an awesome runner, so it was fun to cheer her on and see her rock it out there!

SCE friend and 3rd place finisher Michelle before the race

Soon after, Laura and I made it to the 4 mile marker where we caught up with Rebecca and her friend Erin. We refilled our water bottles and continued along the course. At this point we began collecting the trail markers. Quickly we amassed a lot of pink ribbon!

Rebecca and her friend Erin manning the water station

Collecting trail markers

Having fun on the course

We collected A LOT of trail markers

As Laura and I ran the course, Laura (as the SCE photographer) took a ton of beautiful photos of the park. It was so fun to just have fun, get to know each other better, and help out the race. Before we knew it we were at mile 10 and sad to know we only had 3 miles left of our run. About 2 miles from the finish line we saw Elise again who was getting a few miles of her own. She finished with us.

Running the trails

This was one the most fun volunteering experiences I have ever had. The race was full of enthusiastic women who dominated the course and I got to spend time with Laura in one of my favorite running spots in Santa Cruz. Seeing so many SCE members out volunteering made it all the better. Thanks to Laura, Elise, and Rebecca for helping out and I’m sure making the race even better for all the runners.

*Just a quick note: normally I like to post in the blog with more objective posts trying to describe all the SCE members who participated in the event. But since I spent most of time with just one other SCE volunteer, I really felt that I should recap my own experience.