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Thank you for volunteering for the Blue Ridge Relay!  Your participation as a Relay Official should be an enjoyable and rewarding experience.  Please contact Ken Sevensky with any questions or concerns info@blueridgerelay.com or 336-877-8888.

Steps for Volunteer Registration:

  1. CLICK HERE to view your printable Volunteer Registration Form. (pdf)
  2. Volunteer Registration Forms must be mailed to:
    Blue Ridge Relay
    2385 Big Flatts Church Rd.
    Fleetwood, NC 28626
  3. Volunteer Forms from one community group must be mailed together.  It is the captain’s responsibility to ensure that the volunteer applications are complete and submitted together.
  4. Volunteer assignments will be made on a first-come basis.
  5. Volunteers will be emailed to confirm receipt of the volunteer applications and to confirm exchange zone assignment.
  6. To learn more about volunteering, please CLICK HERE to see the Volunteer Handbook.

General Relay Information:

The Blue Ridge Relay is a 208-mile relay, comprised of teams of 4-12 runners/team. The course is broken up into 36 stages or legs, each of which is run by one runner per team. Each runner on a 12 person team will run 3 times. Each runner on a 4 person team will run 9 times. The shortest leg is 2 miles, the longest is 10 miles, and the average is 5.8 miles.

Each Exchange Zone is located at a church, park, business, school, private property, or other location on the course, which has permitted the Blue Ridge Relay access to their property. An Exchange Zone is the location where one runner passes a wrist strap (rather than a baton) to the next runner.

Each team is permitted two support vehicles, which are most often vans. The support vehicles transport the teams between Exchange Zones. As a runner finishes his/her leg, he/she will pass the wrist strap to the next runner. The runner, who just finished, gets into the team support vehicle, which drives to the next exchange zone to wait the arrival of the active runner.

Most exchange zones will be staffed with 2-4 volunteers. However, several Exchange Zones will be staffed with 8-10 volunteers. Approximately 140 Relay Volunteers are needed to make this is a successful relay. Your effort and enthusiasm is vital to the success of this relay.

REQUIREMENTS:

  1. Volunteers must be over the age of 13. If under the age of 18, the volunteers MUST be accompanied by their parent, guardian, or organization/group leader.
  2. A volunteer cannot be a member of a Blue Ridge Relay team.
  3. Volunteers are not allowed to have young children with them at an exchange zone – there are just too many dangers.
  4. Time Requirement – Volunteers will work one shift that is between 4 – 8 hours.
  5. Location – The Relay course covers 208 miles between Grayson Highlands State Park, VA and Asheville, NC. Location requests will be considered, but not guaranteed. Volunteers representing the site used as an Exchange Zone will be assigned that specific Exchange Zone.
  6. Time of Day: The Relay starts 5:00am Friday and finishes 6:00pm Saturday. The runners run through the night. Some Exchange Zones require daylight hours, others require night coverage.
  7. Volunteer assignments will be finalized by August 10.
  8. All volunteers must complete the volunteer application and sign the waiver.
  9. All volunteers are covered under the Blue Ridge Relay’s Liability Insurance Policy, which is received through USA Track & Field.
  10. Volunteers are NOT required to attend a pre-race meeting.  However, a member of the Blue Ridge Relay staff will contact your captain to discuss location of assignment, responsibilities and what to expect and to answer any questions.  If possible (depending upon where you live), volunteers will receive exchange zone supplies in advance of the race.  Otherwise, supplies will be on location at the assigned exchange zone upon your arrival.

Responsibilities:

Exchange Zone Volunteers will serve as Relay Officials and will have the following responsibilities:

  1. Record bib numbers of incoming runners and outgoing runners.
  2. Record time of wrist strap exchange between runners.
  3. Monitor for rule violations. (Ruling on violations is the responsibility of the Race Director and Relay Committee.)
  4. Direct support vehicle parking.
  5. Supervision of the Exchange Zone site.
  6. Ensure that the exchange zone site is maintained and thoroughly cleared of trash.

Safety and Courtesy:

The Departments of Transportation in Virginia and North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Parkway have permitted the Blue Ridge Relay access to the roadways. County Sheriff Departments, Municipal Police Departments, and North Carolina State Highway Patrol have been informed of the Blue Ridge Relay. Roads will remain open to normal, non-relay, traffic. The Blue Ridge Relay, Relay staff, Relay volunteers, Relay participants, Relay spectators, Support Vehicle drivers, etc… must obey all traffic laws, at all times, and must not interfere with normal traffic.

As stated earlier, each Exchange Zone is located at a church, park, business, school, private property, or other location on the course, which has permitted the Blue Ridge Relay access to their property. The Blue Ridge Relay could not exist without the support of these landowners. Please follow property owners’ requests.