Could you clarify why this was a huge error? I volunteered at a water station recently for a fairly large race; we had 3 tables of gatorade followed by 9 tables of water; this is what the water stop captain (directed by the RD) told us to do.
The paid guy stated that water must be first!! Apparently an email was sent out prior to race weekend with some instructions which may have included those details. My friend volunteered to help out that weekend post email. This was a big race also. My point is you don't yell at volunteers and he was lucky none of them bailed. My friend did pass on his feedback to the company.
Gotcha- Thanks for clarifying. Yeah, yelling at volunteers is not the smartest thing you can do if you want them to stick around and come back the next year.
You're welcome. My friend thought some of the kids were close to tears but he said the right thing to calm the guy down for the moment anyway. My friend is 1 of the nicest people I know. Most people including me would have snapped at the guy.
Water comes 1st, followed by Gatorade. At our aid station we had nine table for water and only three for Gatorade.
Youth Has No Age. ~ Picasso / 1st road race: Charleston Distance Run 15 Miler - 1974 / profile
You know, in six years of racing, I have never noticed which was first - water or Gatorade. In every race I've been in, the volunteers have shouted it or it's been really obvious or I shout a question. My personal preference would be Gatorade first followed by water. That way, I could get a shot of the Gatorade and then wash my mouth out with the water.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
They may have had 2 tables of both for a large field. I just remember all these rows of cardboard piled on top of each other. My friend told the paid guy he was out of cardboard he was promised so was given an answer like break up the water boxes as if that should have been common sense. I gave the guy a WTF look for being condescending and helped my friend break up boxes. Water usually comes first around here, but that is his procedure for another group he has helped a bunch of times.
The reasoning behind water 1st, that's what most runners ask for. So here you have all these runners going to the 1st [always the 1st table] asking for water to only find Gatorade, this causes confusion and congestion. Runners pause or stop as volunteers point. We dumped an entire table, stacked 4 teirs high, of Gatorade but were still filling cups of water till almost the very end.