March to DeMar: Community and Volunteering

Jun. 25—The Clarence DeMar is the largest fundraiser each year for the Keene Elm City Rotary Club. A local service organization that values "Service above Self", proceeds from the marathon each year go to help support projects that benefit the children, young adults, and families of the Monadnock Region and beyond. Prior to training to run the half-marathon course this September, I was involved as a course marshal. I found it only fitting to for my next column to introduce the two women who have worked tirelessly over the years to help make race day a reality: Ann Heffernon and Susan Simonds.

I recently sat down with them to dive into their own marches to the DeMar, and to share some additional insight on what it's like being a volunteer for the race.

How did each of you get involved with the Clarence DeMar, and how long has each of you been a part of these efforts?

Ann: I volunteered for the first two years, just doing whatever it was that needed to be done, but then I decided, I wanted to get more involved. So I've been at this for 12 years now. I have to say, in my first year in this role I was so nervous and I drove up and down the course, I cannot tell you how many times, the night before just to make sure I knew where I was going. I guess I like a challenge. It's just such a cool group of people to volunteer with and it's just so energizing that it's been a great adventure.

Susan: So I'm thinking five years, but I could be wrong. Time flies when you're having fun.

When I joined Rotary — I came from another service organization — It was one of those things where I certainly wanted to get involved, but I was actually elected to be involved as the course marshal director. It's one of those, jokingly, if you're not in the room, you get volunteered. I absolutely love working with all the volunteers and there's a lot of them.

What are your primary roles/responsibilities in putting together the volunteer crew each year?

Ann: I'm in charge of the water stations throughout the course, organizing those teams and reaching out to them. I have people that just can't wait to hear from me to be involved, it's really such an awesome community because people are really excited to participate.

Susan: My role is to coordinate those folks that are called course marshals. These people are strategically planned all along the 26.2 miles of the marathon to ensure that runners know where they're going, because even though the roads are clearly marked sometimes they need a little support and cheering. I look for people that are very energetic, and willing to yell and scream and ring bells, and we have people that dress up in costumes and you know bring cowbells and all sorts of fun things. But, they are responsible for ensuring that the runners go in the right direction and if somebody needs help they know how to reach out to others that are along the way.

From my experiences as a former volunteer, I've met people from as close as Concord and as far as Alaska coming just to volunteer. What are some stories you can tell from your time working to make the DeMar a success?

Susan: The weather is a huge factor in how the race goes, and one of the things that you know, again being such a wonderful community that we live in, is there was one year that it was super hot and the race almost was canceled. It went on, and I mean, we had people in the neighborhoods that folks were running through, getting out their garden hoses and spraying down the runners as they went by their house, I mean they just, they all just pitched in.

Ann: It's not just us, it's this community and Keene that come out and support each other. In some of the more remote places at the beginning of the race, a lot of families come out just to cheer on the runners and that makes a big difference. Some of the volunteers have been around for so long that they know exactly what's going on, for example sometimes you have a little bit of a quagmire near the YMCA and we have water station people that have been there, probably 10 or 11 years now. So they call right away, and they tell us exactly what the problem is and whoever's closest we're both you know out there all day long, whoever's closest goes and takes care of the problem, or sometimes they run out of ice so whoever's closest has ice and cups and water and whatever you, you have to have in the car.

Susan: Also, just kudos to our [rotary] club and our entire team, helping each other out in referring people to volunteer and reaching out on each other's behalf every year.

What are some of the ways people help out behind the scenes and/or on race day?

Ann: So it's a really responsible group of people that are helping us and we could not do anything without them for sure, but I think it's close to what would you say we have 350 volunteers, that we have just between us just water stations and course marshals.

Susan: And the day of the event, I am constantly driving the course, again and again, looking for runners that are kind of in distress, but also making sure that all those [volunteer] spots are continued to be manned and we're allowing someone to take a break. And sometimes even I'll fill in for a few minutes. As we work up to DeMar weekend, it is very intense trying to reach out to all of these people, you know, and you're either on the phone or you're sending out constant emails and we almost get to the point of pleading with some people, but you know after they do it once, they come back! Then that's a wonderful thing because obviously enjoyed it, and we found the right people.

Those interested in volunteering for this year can sign up at https://clarencedemar.com/volunteer.

Have questions about helping out with the DeMar? You can reach Susan Simmonds at ssimonds200@yahoo.com or Ann Heffernon at akheff@gmail.com.

My inbox is open for questions, comments and your own running stories at jrinker@keenesentinel.com.