Detroit Free Press Marathon seeking more than 3,000 volunteers for October races

The Detroit Free Press Marathon needs volunteers for its 47th annual race in fall of 2024.

The marathon will be held Oct. 18-20, with record-setting attendance of more than 26,000 expected this year, surpassing last year's attendance of about 24,000. To help with the increase in numbers, organizers are looking for more than 3,000 volunteers.

"It's arguably the biggest race weekend in our history," the marathon's vice president and race director Aaron Velthoven told the Free Press on Thursday. "It's shaping up to be just tremendous. We've never sold out our races before, let alone, months before. "

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More attendance this year comes from multiple race events being sold out months before marathon weekend . The Marathon, International Half-Marathon, the Marathon Relay, and the Motor City Half-Marathon have all sold out.

"To have, all of our Sunday races sold out is tremendous and the energy around our participants, we've never seen anything like it. So we're super excited for a race weekend in October," Velthoven said.

Among the 3,000-plus volunteers needed, many positions are available.

Which volunteer positions are needed

There are medical volunteer opportunities with Henry Ford Health, the race's official medical provider, with open positions for licensed nurses, physicians, physical therapists, and medical students.

Volunteer positions open for Saturday, Oct. 19, include distributing medals, bibs, and assisting with handing out food and fluids for runners after the 5K, Kids Marathon and 1-Mile Marathon.

For Sunday, Oct. 20 races, finish line volunteers will help with distributing medals, fluids and food to runners. There are many fluid stations along the course as well that need more than 100 volunteers across multiple locations. Start and finish line volunteers are also needed to help prevent congestion in those areas.

There are numerous jobs at the Detroit Free Press Marathon Health and Fitness Expo (Oct. 18-19 at Huntington Place) for runner goodie bag distribution, helping vendors load in and set up booths, greeting attendees, and distributing electronic bibs.

"Our volunteers are the heart and soul of what we are on the race weekend," Velthoven said. "They're a tremendous help for us and the participants."

Where to sign up to volunteer

The volunteer portal recently officially opened: https://detroitmarathon.enmotive.com/events/volunteer/2024-detroit-free-press-marathon_1

Group volunteering opportunities are also available. For more information, email: volunteer@freepmarathon.zendesk.com

No experience needed to volunteer

If you want to volunteer but don't have experience with marathons that is fine; the marathon staff is adept at training volunteers.

"When you sign up to volunteer, you will get a time asking for the time commitment needed," Velthoven said. "When the volunteers get there, we train them, we've got great volunteer captains and staff that work with the volunteers to show them what to do during the race weekend. You don't need any prior experience or training."

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Free Press Marathon seeking more than 3,000 volunteers for October races