Inline Madness

I arrived to the William A Irvin side of the DECC at 445am. The first thing we had to do was secure the sponsor's banners to the barrier fencing in the finish area. After that we walked the length of the fencing from the finish line toward railroad street securing the fencing and then blocking off the area around the theaters and to where traffic could turn to come toward the finish area. During this time several people drove from around the back of the DECC to try to get into the other parking areas we were trying to block off. After a brief explanation, they were told to turn around and enter the DECC parking from whence they came. These skater sorts who were running late for their buses to the start line weren't very happy to hear this.

542am - Hard to see but looking toward the finish line from behind it, banners starting to go up along the right hand side.
545am - Looking at the Downtown area all lit up from the corner of the lake front drive by the Irvin and Railroad Street. My mobile phone cam really didn't do it justice as it looked very nice all lit up at this hour.

552am - Securing the Finish Line banner to the catwalk above the finish area.

620am - Erecting the Announcer's Tent on the top of the scaffolding to the right.

7am - Securing the Sponsor's banner to the back of the catwalk, then the time clock went on in the center as well. (should have gotten a pic of that too. oops.)
703am - The guys who set up and tested the mats for the microchips the skaters wear to capture their finish times as they cross the finish line. The data appears on the computers and one of the computers was up in the announcer tent so as each finisher crossed, they could pop in the number and read aloud the finisher's name and city of origin. The announcer was pretty creative in welcoming and encouraging each racer to the finish line as well as cheering them on as they rounded the corner for the last 200 meters. Later another announcer joined him who became quite annoying with her lame attempt at banter and who wasn't as creative as he in his words. (Not to mention her voice became grating, to the point I had to leave for a bit as we were on break til the finish anyway.)

710am - Again, my mobile cam wasn't as good as my old cam in capturing this gorgeous sunrise between the ships.

724am - The first skaters from the half-marathon approach the finish line to cheers!

742am - My friend Mike from volleyball and another skater discussing the pile up along the route at Lester River where he went down due to a skater in front of him wiping out and then others who tried to avoid too late were caught as well. The woman was able to avoid that mess.

1140am - The last three skaters coming down Bob Dylan Way to the ramp to 5th Ave West and around the DECC to the finish. This shot was taken from the Skywalk window overlooking 35W between Wells Fargo and the DECC. I saw them finish when I arrived back to the finish area to work. Good job for finishing!

Time to clean up!

Our part of the clean up was done by 248pm.

We sat down to free pizza and beer at the Sports Garden by 3p.

Nice.