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SavageMan Set For Sept. 16-18; Volunteers Sought
Aug. 25, 2011
The fourth annual “Tri-To-Win” SavageMan Triathlon Festival will take place on Sept. 16 to 19, with the starting and finishing point located at Deep Creek Lake State Park. Organizers are currently recruiting volunteers to help with the international race.
The SavageMan Triathlon Festival, a charity event that benefits the Joanna M. Nicolay Melanoma Foundation, has been touted internationally as “the world’s most beautiful – and most ‘savage’ – triathlon.” Athletes from around the world are already registered for this year’s contest, according to Greg Safko, president of the foundation and lead organizer for the triathlon.
“The most critical ingredient in staging a successful triathlon is the active participation of enthusiastic, energetic and committed volunteers,” Safko said. “And our volunteers are tremendously appreciated by all our athletes, professional and amateur alike, who come from around the world to compete in this ‘Savage Race to Fight a Savage Cancer.'”
All volunteers will receive a complimentary volunteer T-shirt and cap, and will be invited to the post-race party. Volunteers will be advised as to how to obtain the gifts. Complete information and an application can be found online at www.savagemantri.org/volunteers.html.
A number of volunteer positions are available. Some of these include the setup crew, which will work each day from Thursday, Sept. 15, through the end of the weekend event. (Persons may choose a day to work, or be there each morning.) Volunteers are needed for course marking, parking guides, packet pick-up, body marking of the athletes, transition area guides, course support for all three legs of the race, finish line support, Westernport Wall success tracking, a tear-down crew on Sunday, and a clean-up crew on Monday.
Volunteering roles that require training, special equipment, certifications, or specific skills are photographers, medical personnel, kayakers, lifeguards, bikers, and videographers, among others.
For more information, persons may call Dick Zimmerman, the regional volunteer coordinator, at 240-405-4700, or contact organizers by e-mail at volunteers@savagemantri.org.
All race proceeds go to the melanoma foundation, named in honor of the late Joanna M. Nicolay. Her daughter, Denise Nicolay Safko, said the volunteers touch many lives.
“Not only are they and the community supporting the athletes, they are proving a way for many of the participants to honor someone whom they’ve lost, or who is battling cancer,” she said. “It is really an inspiration to me.”
For more information about the organization, persons may visit www.melanomaresource.org.
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