Meet the volunteers: All Saints Ecclesall Church are vital to the Sheffield Half Marathon

Each year, when the Sheffield Half Marathon takes place, it unfortunately means that All Saints Church Ecclesall is cut off by the road closures. However, the church community don’t let that get them down! Instead, we are lucky enough that this local community group come together to volunteer their help at our event. We had a chat with Richard Blyth, a churchwarden, to learn a little more about what the church volunteers do and why they love helping out at the Sheffield Half Marathon.

“We decided to get involved as the event is so close to the church. It’s below the church really, because we’re on a hill. It’s good to support the Half Marathon - it’s a great event. It’s very fun, and very busy!”

The church volunteers are in charge of manning the first and second water stations on the route. This is a very important job, as the route is known for being quite hilly. Especially on a hot day, it is important to keep runners hydrated. There have been times that the volunteers have helped runners who were suffering from heat exhaustion by giving them sips of water whilst waiting for a paramedic to arrive.

Most of the time though, the volunteering goes very smoothly. “Everyone’s so grateful and the atmosphere is terrific,” Richard says.

They get volunteers of all ages coming and taking part helping each year. Their youngest volunteer is about nine years old, but most are adults. All Saints Ecclesall describe themselves as a “vibrant, missional, and multi-generational Christian church,” and volunteering at the Sheffield Half Marathon is a great way to bring the community together.

On event day, All Saints tends to forgo one of their regular three morning services, the Family Service, because of the road closures. “So we just work with it,” Richard says. “It’s great to volunteer to help at the Half Marathon, and it definitely beats running in the race! It just feels great, encouraging all the runners and supporting everyone. We’re all looking forward to next year’s Sheffield Half Marathon!”.

Our events simply wouldn't be possible without our amazing volunteers. If you’re interested in volunteering, click here to find out more or send an email to eventeers@runforall.com!