PORT ANGELES — Finish-line volunteers are still needed for the 13th annual North Olympic Discovery Marathon on Saturday and Sunday.
These finish-line buddies will be the first to welcome distance runners to City Pier in Port Angeles and present them with a medal and water.
No experience necessary is necessary to be a volunteer.
More information and an online sign-up form are available at nodm.com/volunteers or by phoning or emailing Michelle Little 360-417-1301 and michelle@nodm.com.
All volunteers who register will receive a volunteer T-shirt and ticket to the Irwin Dental Center volunteer appreciation lunch.
The marathon brings more than 2,000 runners to the North Olympic Peninsula and utilizes more than 500 volunteers.
Kids marathon Saturday
The 12th annual North Olympic Discovery Kids Marathon takes place Saturday at 4 p.m. at City Pier.
The 1.2-mile fun run is open to children of all ages.
Online registration is available at nodm.com or in person between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Clallam County students started tracking miles at school in March.
Using the North Olympic Discovery Marathon mileage log, they track 25 miles for six to 10 weeks leading up to marathon weekend.
They set their own weekly goals, record their miles and earn rewards.
On kids race day, the actual marathon course is theirs and they will run their last 1.2 miles at City Pier and have the same finish line as the marathon.
All kids are invited to participate in this fun run event, including kids who have not tracked 25 miles.
Parents are welcome to join their kids on the run/walk.
Registered runners ($12 entry fee — scholarships are available) will receive a T-shirt, race bib, finisher’s medal and a treat.
More information can be found at nodm.com, by emailing nodm@nodm.com, or by phoning or text messaging Michelle Little at 360-417-1301.
Incident Management Team training
The Clallam County Fire District No. 3 Incident Management Team will co-manage this year’s marathon events as a training opportunity.
Incident Management Team is a group of specially trained individuals who respond to an emergency or event and provide command, control and support coordination for the incident.
An Incident Management Team can respond to a wide range of events as well as natural human-caused emergencies, such as hazardous spills, floods, fires, tornadoes and earthquake.
Often, the only experience these teams get are from managing actual disasters due training being quite expensive.
In the past, team members from Clallam County Fire District No. 3’s Incident Management Team have been involved in managing many actual disasters, including numerous wildland fires throughout the United States, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, and most recently, the 2014 mud slide in Oso.
The district’s goal is to provide team members with training and practical experience before a disaster strikes.
Marathons and other events where a large amount of people gather present a unique training opportunity and offer similar levels of complexity that the team faces when managing actual disasters.
“This idea is simple, but can pay great dividends to the fire district and the citizens of Clallam County Fire District No. 3 response area,” James Brown, acting public information officer for Clallam County Fire District No. 3, said in a news release.
“In return, the marathon gets a group of highly trained professionals to oversee every aspect of the event.”
