Ute Schuchardt can't remember a proper break on her first day as a marathon volunteer. “We were actually at the information counter in Hall 1.2 non-stop from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. It was pretty exhausting,” she reports about her first assignment on Saturday at the information counter. Together with her former colleague Sonja Höferlin, she registered for her volunteering via the marathon homepage in May of this year.
There are a total of 15 areas of work for the volunteers of the marathon. Theire working hours are just as varied as the jobs around the event: while helpers are needed to hand out starter bags on all three days, their help at the pasta party, for example, is only needed on the day before the race, or to set up the route on the day of the event itself. More than 2,000 volunteers provided support during this year's race weekend.
On the second day of the event, Sunday morning, things are much quieter for Höferlin and Schuchardt. Only a few people ask the two for information when they are now standing behind the counter at the information desk in the city entrance area of the Frankfurt Festhalle. Both are immediately recognizable as helpers with their camouflage green helper shirts and Höferlin also wears the matching baseball cap. Most of the participants are already on the exhibition grounds the day before the marathon starts to pick up their starting documents and attend the pasta party, she explains the quieter morning.
“My heart is in the marathon,” says Schuchardt with a beaming smile. 29 years ago, she joined the Festhalle team at Messe Frankfurt. Höferlin, with whom she had previously studied in Heilbronn, was already working for our company in the Festhalle team at the time and convinced Schuchardt to join Messe Frankfurt too. For several years, the two of them jointly supervised the marathon. Höferlin worked for the running event until she retired last year. The two are also a well-rehearsed duo as marathon volunteers. Last year they already had a joint assignment at the information counter and had a lot of fun doing it. You are right in the middle of the event, even if you don't run yourself, says Höferlin enthusiastically.
Where do I get my race number? is one of the most frequently asked questions that Schuchardt and Höferlin hear during the two days. The two of them have quick answers for all the other questions as well. They know the hall and the grounds inside and out from their years of work for the marathon. If they can't think of a quick solution, there is a folder on their desk in which everything important is alphabetically sorted.
Schuchardt remembers a few exciting moments as a volunteer: last year she helped a mother find her child, an elderly lady who was completely distraught was looking for her grandson, who was already on his way home on the S-Bahn, and she lent the husband of a Swedish runner couple her private cell phone to help him get back together with his wife.
On Sunday, the two of them will have to be on hand from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Newspapers and magazines about the event are neatly stacked there, ready to hand, along with a variety of route maps in pocket format. At the information counter at the city entrance, five volunteers are on hand today, and they can occasionally take a longer break.
If you are interested in volunteering next year, you can find out more here: www.frankfurt-marathon.com/en/volunteers
Ute Schuchardt (left) and Sonja Höferlin during their deployment in the city entrance area of Frankfurt Festhalle.