Behind Every Medal: My Experience as a Volunteer at the Valencia Half Marathon

By Lautaro Muntz, Master in International Sports Management Student

If you’re a runner, you probably know the World Marathon Majors. SuperHalfs is something similar, but for half marathons: a circuit of six races in European cities (Lisbon, Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen, Cardiff and Valencia). Every time you finish one, your SuperHalfs passport gets stamped, and whoever completes all six receives a SuperMedal.

This year I had the chance to volunteer at the SuperHalfs stand at the Valencia Half Marathon, and it was an unforgettable experience.

For the two days before the race, I was at the stand in the race expo, answering questions and stamping runners’ passports. A huge number of people came through, of all ages and nationalities. Some were thrilled because they were about to complete the SuperHalfs, others because they were adding one more race and felt closer to their goal. I saw parents with their kids, couples determined to cross the finish line hand in hand, and family members cheering them on no matter how far they had to travel. That’s when I realized that running is so much more than racing toward a finish line.

On Sunday, race day, I handed out the SuperHalfs medals to the runners. It was then that I truly understood everything that goes into an event like this. For that moment to happen, someone had to prepare everything months in advance: designing the course, coordinating teams, solving a thousand details that runners never see. From the outside it looks like it just “happens,” but there is an enormous amount of sacrifice and invisible work behind it.

As a Sports Management student, being there was a way to see in practice what we often study in theory. I came away with two things: the understanding that a sporting event is built as much behind the scenes as on the streets, and a desire to keep learning about that side of sport.