On Sunday, October 21st, myself and many of my fellow Dunn Scholars peers volunteered at water stop 12 in the Columbus Marathon for a total of 5 hours. I learned about this opportunity through our weekly scholars email and thought it would be fun to be apart of the event. I had previously watched my sister run in this event, but after hearing the director of the Columbus Marathon speak at our scholar’s meeting, I was amazed at all of the work that goes into this. In my volunteer hours here, I helped set up tables of Gatorade and water cups that the runners would receive at mile 17.3. Through this event, I learned that I could make a connection with someone, regardless of how fast they were passing by. Many runners stopped and made funny comments about their struggle in the race, but I learned that even by being a volunteer at water station, I could continue to provide encouragement and motivation to the runners. Volunteering has allowed me to see how even the smallest efforts make a big event possible, because without volunteers, this event would be missing a major component that makes it run smoothly. Because of volunteering I am more aware of how a small amount of time can go a long way and really make someone’s day.
