The Royce Files

 Thankfully the some thunderstorms blew in overnight and have cooled Fargo down from its foray into the 90s yesterday. At this point this morning before the races it looks good albeit the roads will be wet. But at least the heat has dissipated. Volunteered at the dome yesterday on the main floor. It was not very busy. It seemed slow but some account that for 5k registration and packet pick up being removed to the south concourse rather than the main floor. I discovered that elite runners will take their time checking in. Only 2 picked up their packets during my time slot. One of them was Andrew Carlson, who will be running the half. The other was Gina Aalgaard Kelly who was still undetermined if she would do the 10K or the half due to the forecast. She holds one of the top ten course records for the women's marathon in Fargo. Other notable people spotted included the Coach- Coach GP. I actually saw him in the morning driving one of the official marathon cars. Later he was d...

5K Shirts And so the Fargo Marathon kicked off its 2012 run today with the Youth Run, Expo, and Early Bird packet pick up. All but the 5K are closed to registration. I had the opportunity to volunteer at the 5K packet pick up. It was plenty of fun. Packet work generally is a great way to meet the runners and give them a Fargo welcome. You betcha! 5K packet pick up was moved upstairs from the rest of the races. It gave us more space and generally a less stressfull time. A whole throng of gymnasts came and helped out, too. They had a great time unpackaging bags for runners. Ran into a few aquaintences of mine while I volunteered. One was running the Half Marathon while the other one, Jeff, recently got a serious injury and would not be running. Jeff has appeared in a previous marathon post a few years ago. He fractured something in his leg while trail running. Jeff assured me he was not using the 5 finger shoes. Gymnast unpacking bags Strolled t...

The youth race is just around the corner to kick of the Fargo Marathon weekend. I was supposed to be volunteering at the youth run but a volunteer scheduling blunder nixed that- those tasks were to be set asided for the race sponsors. With that volunteer gig gone I signed up for another- albeit further away from the youth race. Found another cause someone is running for. EJ Scott of Los Angeles, CA, will be running the marathon blindfolded to raise awareness of choroideremia and funds for the Choroideremia Research Foundation. Just what is choroideremia ? Basically it is a rare eye condition that leads to progressive loss of vision due to degeneration of chorid and retina (Wikipaedia). EJ plans to run blindfolded 12 marathons in 12 states in 12 months. Fargo will be the 5th marathon of that course. And on an added note, EJ does improvisational comedy and will be appearing at Fargo Billiards & Gastropub on Thursday night in an improv show. EJ's blo...

Went straight up to the dome after work to do some prep for the Fargo Marathon . I was unpacking and stacking finisher medals. Not much to report on. Things seem under control. Saw the race director from a distance but nothing more. Therefore I'll do a picture post. As you can see the dome has been cleaned since the last time I stood on its floor about a month ago. The sand is virtually invisible now- well its been cleaned. Elton John and Billy Joel were singing here last weekend. Table of medals were all over the southside floor of the dome. Every even has its own color. Except the 2 person relay share a color with the marathon medal itself. I had the opportunity to organize the marathon finisher medals. Don't they look good.

More narrative of my time embedded with the Fargo volunteer flood fighters on March 26 A plea for more volunteers swelled the flood fighter numbers drastically. With the system stressed by the larger turnouts, there was much waiting and confusion. Squads of Carhart clad volunteers sat on bleachers in the Assembly of God volunteer center eating and hoping to get out there to help. Buses were lining up outside. Some returned workers to the Fargo Dome and others took volunteers to possible work sites. I had been riding the bus most of the day and each time I got to the site the whole bus was told to return because there were too many workers. As the sun began to set, I boarded another bus bound for some dike in south Fargo. On that bus I met up with a man who just arrived from Omaha with a friend from Hong Kong. Based on some phone calls made to the Red Cross hotline, Doug was unsure if he should make the trip. Nevertheless, Red Cross called him back and gave him to go ahead. We arrived ...

A further report while embedded with volunteer forces in south Fargo. A fter much waiting I eventually went out on another bus on Thursday around 5PM to the an area around Drain 27. This creek-like drain swelled to enormous proportions and threatened numerous homes, apartments, and businesses. I saw many volunteers hard at work en route. However, this trip proved no better than the previous- too many volunteers. We stayed on the bus and returned to the Assembly of God. Quite a few were disappointed. I overheard many speak of the same scenario I found myself in- on a bus for a while to get to a work site but only to be turned away. I was nearing frustration at this process. Certainly there was someplace that needed a workforce ready and willing to work? I was doubting my decision to use the official channels for volunteering. It just seemed to be breaking down.

A fter a short day at work on Thursday, I headed to the closest volunteer center (Assembly of God) but found no parking available. Not dismayed I continued down the street to Hope Lutheran where plenty of parking spots were available. Unfortunately I arrived when there was an all city work stoppage. I signed in and waited and ate. The food spread at Hope was incredible. I ate light in preparation to go out. After about 45 minutes I got on another bus that took me to the Assembly of God. A short wait, I got on yet another bus which drove us to the River Dr neighborhood in South Eastern Fargo. It took about 45 minutes to get there due to the weather. The previous days' winter storm had left plenty of snow which the city was not able to plow. A crew got off the bus but a foreman sent us back to the bus because there were too many volunteers. So I took another 45 minute bus ride back to the Assembly of God. It was hurry up and wait for almost 2 hours. The volunteer effort must of been ...