(File photo from the 2014 events in Drumheller)
The labour day long weekend is fast approaching and the volunteer team for Tough Mudder is looking for help.
“It is a hugely volunteer driven event. Some of the areas of the event are being staffed with volunteers from a local perspective. Tough Mudder recruits works for several different areas and (this is) one of the things we are bringing to the event is to help them do that,” said Angela Keibel, a member of the volunteer committee and secretary of the Drumheller Festival Society.
The event, taking place September 5 and 6, is in its second year in Drumheller. Last year about 8,000 participants and spectators came to watch the event and Keibel said they are expecting about the same for this year’s event.
Keibel said Tough Mudder has never seen an event done quite like Drumheller’s, where it is entirely volunteer driven. She said when the event takes place in other communities or areas there would be paid staff in some of the areas, but that is not the case with Drumheller’s event.
Keibel said the team organizing the volunteers is still looking for at least 50 people to help out during the event and told inSide Drumheller that there are several different shifts available for the event.
“There are some that are half day shifts for morning, half day shifts for afternoon, or full day shifts. We can accommodate. Some people have phoned me and said ‘I have five hours I can give you’ so we will absolutely find something for them to do.”
She continued by saying that it is an early event and some of the volunteers would need to arrive on the site as early as 7 a.m. because of registration.
The volunteers would be set up along the course, she said, which means some shifts would start later on in the day.
“Last year was such a fun event. It is such a feel-good event. People are doing this as a challenge against themselves. People running the course, there are all these obstacles, and they are crazy, but if there is something somebody can’t do there is no penalty for going around an obstacle you can’t do. The whole premise is to challenge yourself and to do it as well as you can,” Keibel said.
“People are really pumped. It is a very good team building event. There are some people that start this course and by the end of it they are in groups and build friendships out of it. That energy permeates the whole site,” she finished.
She explained no matter what task she did last year, whether it be collecting garbage, doing security at the beer gardens, or monitoring the front gate, she “had fun. It didn’t matter what I was doing just because everybody was so pumped. It was really a lot of fun to be part of,” she said.
She said many people she met last year had never been to Drumheller and they were “impressed” with the volunteer spirit.
“I feel very passionate about this event because it is such a volunteer driven event and it really showcases Drumheller really well. So many things happen in this community because of volunteers and I love seeing it all come together,” Keibel said.
The volunteer team can be reached via e-mail at drumhellertm@gmail.com or anyone interested can call Keibel directly at 403-334-2365 for volunteer information related to Tough Mudder.
