The Orange Vest

Chris and I volunteered to be Course Marshalls yesterday for the Corktown 26th Annual St. Patty's Day Four-Miler. It is amazing how much more respect one gets when donning the orange vest. Chris was enjoying it so much he wore his straight through the rest of the day, well into the evening.

We were situated at the two mile mark at the corner of Woodward and Montcalm, sandwiched between the Fox Theater and Comerica Park. The race started at noon with the earliest runner coming by at 12:10. We checked in at 10:30 and figured we start walking that way. We wanted to start conservatively to make sure that we could A)make it there on time while dragging our heavy cooler of adult beverages, and B)start our day off right with a few spicy bloodies.

We arrived, oh, and an hour or so before the race was to begin. It was freezing but sunny. Our corner was swarmed by cop cars. I would venture to say it was cop central. We sat in our orange vests on the sidewalk, poured ourselves a couple of cool ones, taking in the action, both with our eyes and through our straws. We were so impressed that there was so much police support for the race. No matter that Jesus Christ Superstar was playing at the Fox across the way featuring Ted Neely (who?).

Turns out that the race and the musical began at the same time. What a coincidence. Chris and I moved to the center of the street eventually to assume our positions (bloody in one hand, cooler in the other). We thought we could help direct the Fox traffic as well as keep an eye out for the first runner. Some officer screeched his SUV angrily to a hault, rolled down his automatic window and asked us how long we'd known about the race. I wanted to roll my eyes. Maybe I did. Good thing I was wearing sunglasses. We told him we'd known about it for exactly one year. It's St. Patty's Day, for Pete's sake!

With our orange vests, nothing could stop us. We promised to keep the race contained, as best we could, to one side of the road. We even offered to help move cones knowing full well that we only would be able to contribute one hand each. The race must go on!

It was fun to see so many fast and familiar faces out there! So many runners thanked us for volunteering. I do that when I run, but I certainly did not expect to be thanked today.

The race went on without a hitch, that is, until the police force began directing traffic one block earlier to avoid the Fox. We stood our ground, refusing to get out of the street until the last runner ran by. One officer pointed out that my drink wasn't an energy drink. Because I was wearing the orange vest and feeling particularly confident, I told him it was my kind of energy drink. He laughed and left me alone.

I think the race was a success. Detroit Police Officers aren't all that bad and we learned that one can achieve almost anything when wears an orange vest.