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The Girl and The Boy get ready to serve 4,000 athletes

Today was the Seattle Danskin Women's Triathlon, and the kids and the hubby participated right alongside me. Except rather than take the hour and 20 minutes or so that I take to do a sprint-distance triathlon, we spent five hours at the race - working it as water-station volunteers.

I love the Danskin race. It was my first triathlon three years ago and I love all that it stands for: the empowerment of women of all ages, sizes and abilities to get out and be athletic and feel great about whatever it is that they can make their bodies do. The race also raises funds to support breast-cancer research and creates a bond among women who participate. I believe nearly every woman walks away from that race with a feeling that she can accomplish more than she previously had believed, and that's amazing.

I know from being a triathlete and runner that volunteers make a huge difference in how smoothly a race goes. So this year, since I couldn't race the Danskin because my big event, the Ironman, is just a week away and I wouldn't have had time to recover fully, I decided to volunteer. My family pretty cheerfully agreed to come, too.

Of course, this was before we knew that the statistically-driest weekend of the year in Seattle would turn into a morning of drizzle mixed with downpour. At least the temperature was in the low '60s, so it was fairly warm.

I reminded the kids all week that I'd be waking them up "when it was still nighttime." The race began at 6:45 a.m.; volunteers needed to check in at 5:30 a.m. We laid out our clothing - including raincoats, given the weather forecast - the night before.

My kids are late sleepers, but they woke up pretty easily when I reminded them we were going to serve water at the race. They know race environments are exciting.

I chose to work a water station for a few reasons. I needed to have a task that the kids could really be helpful doing, in a place where it would be easy to watch and help them. We were originally offered the finish line; I turned it down because finish lines are too chaotic and it would be tough to both do my job and keep my eye on the kids. Kids get bored with doing the same task for four hours. I knew they'd be helpful when they were engaged, but they'd "drop out" periodically also.

At a water station, there are a bunch of jobs: handing out cups to the runners, lining cups up on a table, pouring water into the cups, and picking up discarded cups off the ground. The Girl, at four, was perfect for both lining up the cups and picking them up off the ground; The Boy, at seven, could perform all of the jobs. In fact - despite the fact that even with his arm outstretched, some runners had to reach further to take a cup of water from him - we heard over and over, "I'll take water from the cute kid!" from the runners. The Boy even got to hand water to the lead triathlete, who despite her fast pace still said "Thank you!" to him. He recognized how cool that was: I had told him sometimes the very first runners won't take water and will be concentrating so hard on their race that they won't even look at the volunteers.

The weather was tough for The Girl, though. It's not really possible to dress to stay dry outside for five hours in the rain - we were all completely soaked through a couple of hours in. Fortunately, we had been able to park our car very close to the water station, so when The Girl got cranky and started complaining she was cold and wet, I put her in the backseat of the car with a little blanket I keep in there and she took a nap. (Also, I made sure that I had kid-friendly snacks and drinks to ensure they'd keep their energy up all day. And working a water station means working near a Porta-Potty - another necessity for kid volunteers.) 

The Boy changed jobs frequently, but never once complained about the weather or the tasks. He looked even smaller than he is, wearing an extra-large volunteer t-shirt over his clothes. He laughed at me when I tried to reprimand him for taking off his hat and hood ("Uh, Mom...they're soaking wet anyway!") and made friends with the other volunteers we were working with. One of them kept up some fabulous encouragement the entire morning. "Here come strong, beautiful women! You look great! Don't you just love Seattle's liquid sunshine!"

And all of us smiled and cheered as we watched the cancer survivors, teenage girls, the disabled, elite athletes, mothers, grandmothers, and more become triathletes. More than half of Danskin participants each year are doing a triathlon for the first time; creating a supportive and fun environment is a huge responsibility of the race organizers and volunteers. And staying happy and keeping the racers happy in our "liquid sunshine" - well, that just makes us, and them, even tougher.

Personally, I was surprised at how much work being a volunteer was. I'd volunteered at a smaller race before (with the kids), so I sort of knew what to expect. But Danskin is the biggest triathlon in the Seattle area, and at times we could barely keep up with the demand for filled water cups. There was an hour or so where I barely looked up from the table where I was laying out cups and pouring water. During that time, my husband as well as the other volunteers were all keeping their eyes on the kids. But I have to say, I was proud of both of them. They were both very helpful (The Girl up until she needed that nap, The Boy the entire morning) and they got out of it what I hoped they would: that helping other people is actually fun.

I had such a good feeling when I saw Sally Edwards, the traditional "final finisher" of all the Danskin triathlons, coming down the road. No woman need fear finishing last at the Danskin; that's Sally's job, and finishing just ahead of her is a privilege. But I still explained to the kids that whether you finish first or last, just starting, just trying is incredibly important - and didn't they see marvelous examples of that all day?

"Do you think these ladies can do anything they want to?" I asked the kids. They nodded in agreement. "I'm sure they can, Mom," said The Boy. "And I'm going to do this race too when I get bigger!" said The Girl.

Oh yeah. My kids got the message alright.