Volunteering for the London Marathon

Up with the sparrows at 4:45am; to volunteer for team leader Les as official elite athlete drink marshals at the 5k point.

It ran like a well oiled machine, 6:30am the lorry arrived with the stands and tables. We unloaded the lorry and helped set the stands up. Gill, assistant to Les, checked that all the elite athletes' bottles were accounted for and all on the correct tables, in the right order.

A number of parkrunners volunteered. Mrs Soup and I were on Stand 1, Richard and Sally Stand 2, Mavis and Bob Stand 3. We had to keep the drinks in the shade, put the ladies drinks out in time for them to pick up, then do the same for the men.
As soon as the runners had gone through the London Marathon team quickly disassembled the tables and stands, before the masses came through.

Thank to:
Les for giving us the opportunity to volunteer
London Marathon for our officials medal and t-shirt
The Greyhound pub (opposite) who very kindly gave us cups of coffee and allowed us to use their loos
Joan for the late breakfast

This photo was taken as the men approached our table; Mo Farah is indicated by the arrow in the background - just before he collected the wrong bottle from table 2.