Event date: November 25, 2010

I have never been a morning person. Yet today, as I awoke at 5am and the sun wasn’t even close to rising, I had an unprecedented amount of energy.

I knew that energy was from the fact that I was excited to be a part of a Sacramento Thanksgiving tradition, the Run To Feed The Hungry. I’ve had many friends participate in this event, and I’d seen the immense news coverage it receives, but I had never had the opportunity to see it for myself.

The Run to Feed the Hungry is billed as “A Family Tradition of Giving” and is truly a tradition, with this year’s race being the 17^th annual event. It’s a 5K/10K “race” that benefits Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services.

Proceeds from race registration, along with individual fundraising efforts, help benefit the Food Bank and provide much needed assistance to those community members in need of food and proper nourishment.

People come from all over to take part in this event. Based on my car’s 33 degree temperature reading, it was a perfect morning for some activity to stay warm. Despite the chill in the air, I knew from my energy level on this morning that it was going to be a great day.

I met with the volunteers who would be joining me on this morning at the volunteer registration area at 7am. Jim, Becky, Leon, and Sylvia arrived, fully bundled and ready to help out. Becky was Jim’s niece, and Leon’s fiancée was running in the race.

Our tasks today would be that of “Course Monitor,” which meant we’d stand alongside the course to keep people from straying onto the course, as well as provide support and encouragement to the runners.

Each of the volunteers and I were assigned an intersection to watch over. We were handed a map of the race, premade sign of encouragement for the runners, and a garbage bag to help clean up once the race was done, and we were on our way.

I posted up at the intersection of 55^th and J Street at about 7:40am. Since the first race – the more competitive 10K – began at 8:35, I had some time to mix in some calisthenics to try to stay warm. A couple hundred jumping jacks later, I was still cold. So I walked to The Corner Bar & Restaurant for some of their complimentary hot coffee. To say that they were a lifesaver is an understatement.

Once I was fully warmed, I headed back to my area. Many racers walked past on their way to check in, and a few people sat down on the curb next to me to join me in supporting the racers. It was great to meet some of the people who came out to see the racers as they sped by.

There were cousins who were in town for the weekend from Colorado who were watching their aunt run. There was the older couple with the pug who didn’t know anyone participating in the race, but they lived a few blocks away and had made watching up close and personal a Thanksgiving tradition.

It was a great mix of young and old, all in great spirits because of a common ideology: togetherness for a good time and a great cause.

8:35 came around and a couple minutes later, a flock of runners came sprinting by. My post was near the starting gate and the first heat was the more experienced runners, so they were flying by! I had my tools for this task: an encouragement sign a cardboard turkey and a good attitude.

I stood along the side of the road, turkey held high, and administered shouts of “Happy Thanksgiving” and high-fives like they were going out of style. This first group of runners, the competitors they were, shot back the occasional smile and most within arm’s reach returned the high-fives.

They ran by pretty quickly. Their group of runners had passed by in probably about ten minutes. Once the stream of runners died down for a bit, Leon stopped by my intersection and him and I made the short walk to get another coffee from The Corner Bar.

We got back to 55^th and J, and prepared for the 5K runners. Within a couple minutes we saw the masses approaching. This was the general crowd, participating for the fun, the camaraderie, the enjoyment.

There were people young and old, of all ethnicities. Elderly folks, young kids, working professionals, college students, people dressed up in their finest Thanksgiving costumes, people who had clearly  never run in an organized race before, people who were already a couple drinks deep. It was a lot of fun to see so many people come together for such a great cause.

Many people deviated from their running lines to come give me a high-five on the side of the road. Smiles were plentiful and my hand started hurting from the emphatic gestures of thanks.

All told, I estimate I gave more than a thousand high-fives this morning. Considering the fact that race organizers were expecting 30,000 runners total, I’d say my average was pretty good. The smiles and thanks from the grateful runners confirmed that even more.

It felt really good to know that even a simple task like standing on the side of the road with a cardboard turkey giving high-fives with thousands of people could make a difference. Whether things in your life are great, or if they could be better, I recommend anyone do it at least once to see the power it can have for someone.

It was a great morning. The energy from helping a greater cause gave me the energy to overcome my battle with mornings, and I ended up learning a lot about myself in the process.

The Sacramento Food Bank is constantly looking for volunteers. They offer a wide variety of volunteer opportunities for people ages 10 and above. Some programs require volunteers to be a minimum of 18 years of age and the volunteer must pass a background check prior to starting their volunteer service.

The other volunteers today were very grateful for being a part of this event.

Becky said, “For me, participating was kind of a spontaneous idea, so I didn’t really have any expectations. I really just wanted to feel like I was doing something for people in need for the holiday, and I definitely achieved that.”

She added that she would remember “The amount of people that attended. It was truly amazing to see that many local residents in one place, all joined together for a good cause. It really put into perspective for me the difference that a community can make when people come together. Very inspiring.”

Thanks to everyone for coming out so early and braving the cold temperatures. I know that we helped make Run To Feed The Hungry memorable and successful for the participants and organizers.
See you out there next year!

Run To Feed The Hungry
Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services
Volunteer information
916.456.1980