Hydration Station Instructions, Ottawa Race Weekend

Ottawa Race Weekend

Hydration Station Instructions

Ottawa Marathon

Sunday May 24, 2015

Thank you for volunteering at the Birch Avenue & Hemlock Road ‘Hydration (Water) Station’  for the Ottawa Marathon!  

Reading over these instructions will help you become familiar with our job during the marathon.  

As a volunteer at a hydration / water station, you will be responsible for preparing and serving Gatorade and water to the 5500 athletes in the Ottawa Marathon event.  Pre-event set-up and post race cleanup are also part of the job.

Arrival:

• Sunday May 24, 2015 at 6:30am at the corner of Birch Avenue and Hemlock Road
• Station Captain:  Wesley Wark 613-323-6475 cel phone
• OC Transpo #7 Bus
• Street parking available

What to bring:

• Dress for the weather!
• Wear comfortable shoes
• Leave valuables at home because there will be no secure storage at the hydration station.
• If possible, bring a hockey stick, rack or snow shovel to help remove used cups and sponges from the race course.

Food:

• Snack if desired

Key things to remember:

• Do not block the race course
• Face the runners
• Announce what you are handing out (ie water, Gatorade)
• Offer cups on a flat hand
• Practice good hygiene by wearing disposable gloves provided
• Cheer the runners
• Have fun!

Water Station Supplies:

• Supplies will be dropped off at a central location of each water station.

• 24 tables
• 16,500 cups
• Gatorade
• 4x 18L Gatorade themos
• Stirring stick
• 18L water jugs, empty
• Garden hoses (water supply)
• Sheets of coroplast for layering cups
• Non-latex gloves
• Soap
• new garden hoses to connect to school water supply
• 18L jugs of water
• Juice jugs
• Garbage bags and CLEAR bags for cup recycling
• Walkie-talkie, and other small supplies

Hydration Station Set-up

• Runner will travel south on Birch Avenue and turn right (west) onto Hemlock Road;  Hydration Station is at the 33km mark
• Along Birch from north to south:  First Aid (1 table); Elite Water sign; Elite Runners tables (2 for male elite runners; 2 for elite female runners); Gatorade tables (8 tables); Water tables (up to 16 tables); cheering station;  live band
• Lock the legs on each table during set-up.

• Elite Runer tables

• Set up on the right-hand side (west) of Birch Avenue,  50m before water/Gatorade stations.  See diagram below.
• Signage (provided) announcing the water station will be displayed by volunteer north 100m north (in advance)  of the elite water tables.
• Elite water tables will be colour coded and must be set up in the following order:  WHITE, YELLOW, PINK, GREEN
• Elite water bottles will be colour coded (white or yellow or pink or green) and marked with the runner’s bib number
• Once Elite Runner water bottles arrive they must not be left unattended. These water bottles must not be touched by anyone other than the designated volunteer.
• Water bottles will be colour matched to the runners bibs;  
• Water bottles will be marked with bib numbers and must be arrange numerically in two rows.
• Runner will take their own bottle.  Volunteers must NOT hand bottles to runners.
• Volunteers should periodically tidy the elite water table.
• Ensure that non-elite runner do not take these water bottles
• Do not retrieve the used water bottles, but it would be nice to sweep them off the road.  
• Unused or discarded elite water bottles should be thrown into the garbage or may be taken home as souvenirs.
• Once the elite runner have passed (approx 10 minutes), the remaining bottles may be consolidated to one table and the volunteer may rejoin the other water station volunteers.

Arrangement of ELITE RUNNER water tables

[pic 1][pic 2][pic 3]

Hygiene:

• Soap and non-latex gloves are provided for volunteers.
• Wash your hands and put on gloves prior to filling water cups, mixing Gatorade or handing cups to athletes

Proper Cup Handing Technique:

• Stay off the course as much as possible
• Stand on the curb with one foot in the gutter, within reach of the water table
• Face the runners
• Cups should be held on flat open hand
• YELL what you are holding so that athletes know in advance what liquids they are getting
• Cups should be between ½  full
• Do NOT place filled cups on the ground

Preparing water / Gatorade – 16,500 cups will be prepared!

• Cups should be packed as tightly as possible to stockpile the maximum number of cups on each table.
• If trying to fill cups in a wind, have a second person hold a coroplast sheet (provided) as a wind shield.  Also, pour cups on the windward side first.
• Layer a sheet of coroplast on top of the first layer of filled cups to permit a second layer.  Do not exceed 3 layers total.
• Duct tape coroplast to the table is necessary due to high winds.
• Stockpile water from garden hoses into 18L water jugs provided.  Refill these jugs immediately when emptied as there will be insufficient time during high athlete volumes.
• Gatorade mixture:  fill Gatorade thermos ½ full with water, add powdered Gatorade ACCORDING TO RECIPE, stir with stick provided, top to full with water.

Safely crossing the race course:

• Should a volunteer need to cross the race course (not advised), start running with the runners and gradually make one’s way across the course being careful not to collide with the runners.

Garbage and Recycling:

• At no time should a volunteer impede an athlete while picking up cups or other debris.
• Volunteers are responsible for cleaning the race course of discarded cups and other debris.
• Hockey sticks, racks and snow shovels are helpful tools.  
• RECYCLING.  Cascades Recovery will pick up CUPS and waste.  USE the CLEAR BAGS for CUPS and PAPER.  Please empty and compress all cups – you can simply step on them – or stack them so that they occupy less garbage bags
• Empty boxes in which the cups were shipped lined with garbage bags make a handy bin.

Washrooms:

• Porta-potties are provided for runners at each water station, therefore volunteers using the facilities must wait until there is no line-up.

CLEAN UP

Volunteers must clean up debris and put away equipment and supplies when the last runner has come through the course.  These tips will help speed the process.

Cups, used:

• Used cups tossed on the roadway should be racked or ‘hockey-sticked’ into piles at the side of the road.
• Used cups should be either stacked (preferred) or squashed, before being collected in CLEAR garbage bags for recycling
• Runners must not be impeded at any time during clean-up!
• Bags filled with cups should be deposited at the designated site for pick-up.

Cups, filled but not used:

• Not all cups will be used during the marathon.  These cups must have the liquid spilled out, stacked and disposed in clear garbage bags for recycling.
• The water station captain will request that selected Gatorade and selected water tables close down and clean up as the race winds down.  This will help speed the clean-up time while ensuring that all runners have access to Gatorade or water.

Unused cups:

• Only those cups which remain in sealed plastic sleeves should be boxed for reuse.  

Tables

• Wash tables with dishwashing soap (provided) and then rinse.
• Tables should be collapsed and stacked where directed.
• Do not remove the tablecloths!

Coroplast sheets

• Coroplast sheets are reused each year.  Therefore they must be washed and rinsed with clear water (use a hose) prior to being stacked in the located indicated.
• Washing and rinsing the sheets as the race winds down helps speed the clean-up.

Gatorade Thermos + stir stick:

• Rinse the thermos and stir before placing it in the pickup location indicated.

Garbage

• Garbage bags of debris should be placed together in the site indicated.  

Recycling

• The community of Manor Park requests that all paper be recycled.  Therefore cardboard and other paper products – except drinking cups – should be broken down to flat and stacked where indicated.  The paper will be part of the regular city recycling pickup.

Elite Water Bottles

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