Have you ever thought about being a marshal at Run Leicester? Our volunteers are simply incredible with hundreds of people giving their time freely on the day and in the run up to the event. Without you the Run Leicester simply could not happen!
Rishi Chauhan marshalled at the 2022 Run Leicester event and shares his experiences of marshalling for the event and is now set to run the 10k race this year.
“The last few years have been challenging for me. I had a cancer scare a few months into the pandemic. It was suspected lymphoma. Luckily, the similar symptoms and the two biopsies were the closest it became to being cancer and it turned out that I had a rare autoimmune illness. The symptoms lasted for year but it took me another 2 years to recover and fully feel back to myself.
The 10k race in October will mark exactly three years since my biopsy operation. I really wasn’t confident that I’d be fit enough to run the 10k, but last October I volunteered at the Run Leicester race as a marshal and really enjoyed it. Until last year I had only ran in races; never marshalled or volunteered. It really opened my eyes and was great to see a diverse range of runners and see the support they got from marshals, friends and family. Because of how fun it was to volunteer last year at Run Leicester, I’ve now volunteered regularly at the local park run. It also really motivated me to book my place for 2023 and shift from recovery mode into training mode.
This year I’ve been training with a running coach, joined the local running club and been doing everything possible to help my immune system. So far this year, I’ve completed two 10k races and several 5k park runs, as well as helping with marshalling duties. Whilst I’m still not completely back to my normal self, I’m in much better health than I could have imagined. The 10k Run Leicester in October will be a huge milestone for me.
I would definitely encourage people to try out volunteering. You can make a nice day of it and the help is really appreciated by the runners and the organisers. I even think as a runner, if you are injured or don’t fancy doing a race, it’s good to be out there helping every now and again. It’s great to cheer on the runners and soak up the atmosphere!”
Would you like to volunteer at this year’s event? Please send us an email to leicestermarathon@gmail.com, complete with your name, phone no, email address, and general availability on the day and we’ll be in touch. We are always in need of people to marshal on the route without whom the event simply wouldn’t be possible.