Race volunteer sign-up

Roles

Most community races need the same jobs:

• Packet pickup, the evening before or early on race morning
• Course setup: cones, signs, tables, the start arch
• Registration and day-of sign-ups
• Water stations, three or four people each
• Course marshals at every turn and crossing
• Finish line: medals, water, timing support
• Teardown, which always needs more people than you think

Counting marshals

Get the course map and mark every turn, crossing and fork where a runner could go wrong. Each one needs a marshal. Add one spare. Put the total on the marshals line and assign spots on the morning from the list. If your course crosses roads, check with the local authority about what marshals are allowed to do.

Start times matter

Every slot should say when to arrive, not when the race starts. Water stations need to be set up before the first runner reaches them. Marshals should be at their spot before the gun. A slot like "Sat 7:45-10am: Water station 1" tells the volunteer exactly when to be there.

What to ask

• T-shirt size, if volunteers get shirts
• A phone number, because you will be texting people on the morning
• "Is anyone coming with you?" so families can sign up together with a quantity

Reminders

Send a reminder two days before, with a link to the course map and where to park. A second reminder the evening before should give the exact meeting point and the race-day contact number. Each one includes the volunteer's link to cancel, so if someone drops out, the next person on the waitlist gets the email in time.

On the day

Print the sheet. A clipboard at the volunteer tent with names by role is still the fastest way to check people in and send them to their spot.

A ready list

The starter text above covers a typical 5K from packet pickup to teardown. Paste it into Dibs and change the limits to match your course and runner count. Volunteers sign up from your race page, emails or social posts with no account and no ads, and get a calendar file with their start time.