WRITTEN TRANSCRIPTION OF THE PODCAST:

Hello and welcome to my podcast My Life and Other Funny Stories. My name is Dagmar Tomášková, I am an English tutor and I created this podcast for students at intermediate and upper intermediate levels who want to get better in their oral comprehension. As always you can find the transcription of this episode, comprehension quiz, and vocabulary list in the notes of the podcast.

This week I will share with you my experience with volunteering at Spartan races. If you don’t know what Spartan Race is go and listen to last week’s episode first and then you can come back I will wait for you here.

But if you are updated, we can start right away and hold on tight because this one will be a long and crazy ride.

I think that the experience of volunteering is very nice and if you want to run a Spartan Race but don’t want to pay the full price, it is a great way to solve it.

Unfortunately, I feel like I was very unlucky when it comes to volunteering. It wasn’t at all the organizer’s fault (hm, well, a little bit, at the end…you will see), it was usually weather or my health or other things…let’s go.

My first attempt at volunteering was I think in 2018. I and my boyfriend wanted to help at a race in eastern Slovakia, specifically in Slovak paradise. It is quite a long journey from Brno, around six to eight hours of travel to Košice and then another hour and a half to Slovak Paradise. We were lucky that our friend drove us the last part of the journey. I also want to add that it was winter and it was a very very cold winter. In Slovak Paradise, it was around minus 10 to minus 15 degrees Celsius.

Already on the way there, I started to feel some pain in my stomach. It wasn’t anything serious and I told myself that I am probably just nervous from the traveling.

But when we sat down in our friend’s car and started the ride, my stomach hurt increasingly more. By the time we arrived at the destination, I knew something was wrong. But I was still ready to go and volunteer for the whole weekend at the race.

We took our things and our friend drove away. The second I stood up, I felt like I need to throw up. Throwing up is when the food comes back. And the pain in my stomach was so big that I couldn’t even stand straight up. I had to hold my belly and I had to be bent over. I was also freezing and shivers were going through my whole body. Shivers are the movements that you make when you shake slightly or uncontrollably as a result of being called or sick.

I didn’t know what to do because our friend drove away, it was dark, cold and there was no one around yet. My boyfriend kept asking me: „Should we call our friend back?“ in the beginning I was answering: „no, no no, it’s fine, I will be fine“, but after maybe 30 minutes I decided that I have to go to the doctor. So we called our friend back. It was the longest wait of my life. I had never felt so sick like I did that night, even until now.

On our way back to Košice, I was lying in the backseat trying to fall asleep so I wouldn’t be in so much pain, but I couldn’t.

Finally, we arrived in Košice. We went to the emergency room and doctor where I realized that I didn’t get my travel insurance. I didn’t realize that Slovakia is a different country. I know it is extremely stupid and it made me feel even worse. Thankfully the doctor was amazing and examined me and didn’t want any money. It was a miracle.

Turns out it was some gastritis. Which is an inflammation of the stomach. He gave me some drops and we went to my boyfriend’s mom. I was so happy to be in bed. I had to stay in bed the whole weekend but on Sunday I felt better and we could go back to Brno.

In the end, I wasn’t volunteering at all. I felt so bad that we traveled for so long and in the end I just laid in bed for the whole weekend. But it is what it is.

My second experience of volunteering was much nicer for me. We went to, honestly, I don’t even remember where it was, I think Kutná hora? And there we were volunteering for two races. One on Saturday and one on Sunday. Honestly, this experience was in comparison with the other ones quite nice even though it was very cold and I had to have five layers of clothes on me- which means I had one t-shirt, one hoodie, a second hoodie, a winter jacket, and then the t-shirt for volunteers.

On Saturday I was in the finish and I was handing out the medals and giving out bananas and my boyfriend was somewhere else. On Sunday we asked to be somewhere together because I didn’t want to be alone again. Also, it was raining so I really wanted to be somewhere under a roof. Which was successful because we were in the baggage tent. The baggage tent is the place where the runners go and put their backpack or their jacket before they go to the race.

Still, we were working for about 12 hours a day and it was really difficult. But because I helped two days in a row, I had enough points to run the 5 km race and 10 km race I was talking about last week. Anyway, I think volunteering is much more difficult than running the race.

By that point, I already ran 2 races and I wanted to finish the trifecta I will talking about last time. But for the 21 km run, you have to have double points to run it for free.

In that case, you have two choices:

1) you help for the whole weekend in two races- so you had to have points for two races to be able to run the beast one

2) you help at an ultra beast race- the ultra beast race is 52 kilometers or more- absolutely crazy

We decided to help at the ultra beast race. This one was in Liberec- so again, very far away. During the last race, we were sleeping in a gym in our sleeping bags but this time we packed our tent and we wanted to sleep in a tent town with other volunteers.

When we arrived there, it was absolutely pissing rain and it was getting late. I already got nervous because I knew we still have to build the tent.

But there was not much we could do, we just went and arrived in the tent town. We started building the tent, but as it was raining, I was tired, it was getting dark and it was the first time I was building this specific tent, me and my boyfriend had a lot of difficulties. We were arguing and it was not the best experience overall. The worst part came when we finished building the tent. Because when we looked inside, there was a big puddle of water in the middle of the tent. Puddle of water is what happens when it rains a lot. You can see puddles in the streets. We knew we couldn’t sleep there, because we would be basically sleeping in the water. But as it was late already, and everyone was getting up at around 4 a.m., everyone was sleeping.

So there we were, standing in the dark, getting completely wet and desperate. We didn’t know what to do or where to go. We stood under a smaller roof of a Neighboring tent. The neighboring tent is a tent next to our tent. So that we could be at least a little away from the rain and discuss what to do next.

I was tired, angry, cold, and extremely desperate. There was nowhere we could go. There was nothing around. There was nowhere we could sleep and nowhere to hide. Oh my god that rhymes, guys I’m a poet. I am just kidding.

But as we were talking, the people from the tent we were standing next to (or under their roof basically), came out to see who it is. Because they couldn’t sleep since we were talking literally next to their tent. 

We explained our situation and the boy said that he was very sorry but he didn’t think they could help us. We said: „it is okay and we are sorry that we woke you up“.

He went back to the tent and after four minutes he came back and said that we could sleep in the small space in front of the tent. I mean in the small space where you go into the tent but it’s not the bedroom. It’s the space where you leave your things. We were so happy and so grateful. Even though all my things were wet including my sleeping bag, I was honestly happy that I could lay down somewhere.

I think I don’t have to say that the night was terrible- probably the worst night of my life. Even though we were under a roof it was still raining on us a little bit and I couldn’t sleep very well. We had to wake up at 4 a.m. To go and start volunteering and I was happy it was the morning.

When we came to the base where they told us what we would do, they told me that I would be standing alone at crossroads to make sure that no one goes the wrong way. It wasn’t what I hoped for. I hoped I would be with my boyfriend but it was what it was.

They took us in cars and placed us at our crossroads. And then it began. 17 hours of pointing, showing the way, and trying to cheer the runners on. Yes, 17 hours. Sometimes it was cold, sometimes it was raining and sometimes it was okay.

Even though I was exhausted, I had so much respect for the runners, that I wanted to cheer them on as much as I could.

When it was finally over, I couldn’t believe it. We went back to the tent town and there was still a puddle of water in our tent. I knew that I didn’t want to sleep in that tent and I didn’t want a similar night to the one before. I asked my boyfriend if we could just go to the train station and then go home on the first train. He agreed.

So we went to the train station and were waiting there for a few hours. At that point, I hadn’t slept properly for two nights and because my boyfriend was also very tired, I just let him sleep. One of us had to stay awake so that no one would steal our things. So it was another sleepless night.

When the morning came, we finally could go home. I slept the entire time on the train so it went extremely quickly.

I was asking myself if it is worth it. If I should just pay the money for the race next time. But on the other hand, I was also extremely unlucky with the experiences.

The best part (and by the best part I mean the worst part) is that I applied for the 21 km race but it was canceled due to (because of) covid and there was nothing we could do. And since the organizers said that the 5 km, 10 km and 21 km races had to be completed within one calendar year to get the trifecta- so you have to run all of them in one year to get it- and they canceled the race which was the last possible chance to get it, my trifecta dream was gone.

Not only that but they also automatically signed me up for the next race, which I didn’t realize and I didn’t cancel the application. So the race came and gone and my precious points from the 17 hours of volunteering were gone. Poof.

I think I don’t have to say that was the last time I volunteered at Spartan Race.

And here we are at the end of the episode once again. I left out a lot of details and information because it would simply be a very, very long episode. But if you want to know more, you can ask me anytime.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode and don’t forget that you can find the transcription, vocabulary list, and comprehension quiz in the notes. Please give this podcast a five stars rating on the platform that you are listening to this, since it’s the only way for me to get feedback and making these episodes takes me a lot, a lot of time.

That is all and I will see you next time, bye-bye.