For the second year in a row I was lucky enough to be a part of 24 Hours of Booty, a cycling event founded in Charlotte, NC that hosts cyclists from around the country to ride in honor and support of the cancer community. Cyclists rode the three mile “Booty Loop” as many times as they dared within a 24-hour window from 7:00pm Friday to 7:00pm Saturday. In 2007 I was merely a part of the design team at Eye Design Studio that worked with the Booty team on graphics, advertising, and the like. For the 2008 event I felt that it was time to give a little more of myself, so I decided to volunteer with the many people that organize and execute the event.
That’s when it got interesting.
Patti Weiss, the Executive Director of 24 Hours of Booty and someone I’ve become close friends with, caught wind of my interest in giving back “a little more than last year.” That’s when she invited me to a small meeting at her house where the plan was to talk a little more about the event. Little did I know that this was a meeting of the key gurus volunteering to organize the event. This was a little more than I had signed up for. But when Patti, Kim Uffmann, Plum Whitney, and the rest of the team seemed to put so much faith in my pitching in and taking a major role (co-parking coordinator for the entire 24-32 hours it would take to carry out the event), how could I refuse?
OK. Jump ahead to Friday July 25th at 8:00am. The wheels were in motion and the event was taking shape as tents, banners and signage went up, cones went out, and volunteers kicked it into high gear. My shift started at 2:00pm, and minus about 5 hours of sleep somewhere in the night Friday, didn’t end until Saturday around 9:30pm. Realize though, that I had nothing to complain about since Patti, Kim, Plum, and many many other volunteers had been up working 12+ hour days for weeks in preparation, and would be working right along side me. I’m humbled by their dedication.
So, at 7:00pm Friday night the clock started and the front of the pack of nearly 1,300 riders began the loop, led by top donation getters and cancer survivors. Craig Johnson (my partner in parking crime) and I got to rock tweaked out golf carts for most of the event, shuttling volunteers back and forth and coordinating manpower at key intersections around the busy loop. Golf carts are awesome…for about 30 minutes. Eventually the novelty wore off and the reality of hours on end with no sleep and way too much strategic thinking kicked in. Then it became more fun and dangerous than ever before.
By about 8:00am Saturday morning, most of the volunteer team had accomplished the main push of the event, taken at least a nap and a shower, and were nearing zombie-like delirium. Anyone who has ever done a marathon work, school or volunteer session knows that this is the point where true camradery sets in. There was no other group of tired, stinky people I would have rather been working next to than this happy crew. As we wrapped up Saturday evening just after 9:00pm, there were only about 10 of us left. We wearily sealed up the last box, threw out the last bag of trash, and closed up the truck, looking forward to a great night’s rest and another event merely five weeks away in Columbia, Maryland.
I should point out some of the other key players in the Booty story. Spencer Lueders founded the event over seven years ago when he decided to raise money and go it alone riding for twenty-four hours with only some friends and onlookers taking part that first year. Nearing $1 million in donations for the event this year, it’s obvious how quickly this great idea caught on. Carrie Futrell was an ever apparent force for the entire event, making sure all of the staff had plenty of volunteers to fill their shifts. Paul Belling is also a volunteering machine, and as far as I know the only volunteer that never slept for the duration of the event. His “pick me up” was donning his riding gear at 2:00am Saturday morning in a effort to ride some of the less crowded laps and “catch his second wind.” He was instrumental again this year in making sure that the loop was set up and functional throughout the event. I know that there are many that have gone unmentioned, but not unnoticed.
If you haven’t yet, check out www.24hoursofbooty.org, and get ready for either the Columbia event on September 6-7th (I think there may be a bus heading north for volunteers!), or next year’s Charlotte event. Mark your calendar; it’s always the last weekend in July. Go Booty Army!
See you out there!
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