WorldWideKittyGlassesProject : Birell CzechRun 5km/10km Race (Prague, CZ)

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Birell CzechRun 5km/10km Race (Prague, CZ)

A friend of mine sent me information about volunteering for the CzechRun Birell 5km/10km race. There were several positions to choose from, but I was most interested in being a chaperone for the elite athletes. I thought it would be a great chance to meet the athletes and interact with them. It was a very good opportunity to see what happens behind the scenes. However, it was a bit chaotic, especially the finish line. We were specifically told to just take care of a specific athlete. I was in charge of the number one woman. We were all at the finish line waiting for our athlete. The number one man was from Kenya and was just 2 seconds away from the world record. His time was amazing. For 10km, he got under 27 minutes, which was fantastic. Then the men kept coming, but no one was there to give them water, so I had to distribute a lot of towels and water. Then the number one woman, Caroline Kipkirui from Kenya, finished at 30 minutes and 19 seconds. I tried giving her water, but she didn't want any at all. I have done 10k races in the past and got around 57 minutes. This woman got basically half my time and didn't want any water!! It was a bit crazy at the finish line and somehow the people in charge of the event didn't know which woman won. Luckily they had me in charge of the number one woman so I confirmed the winner. They really tried to say it was the number two woman, but I put my foot down. After the confusion, they had the medal ceremony. During the medal ceremony people were still finishing the race. There were so many people who joined the race. Actually at the starting line, it took 6 minutes just to have everyone start. After the medal ceremony, I had to go with Caroline to get her picture in front of the Birell car with her finishing time. Then we had to go to the hotel for the press conference. After the press conference was the doping control. Finally after that I was able to leave. It was a long day, but a really interesting eventful day.