Short track speed skating

I haven't been doing much running lately because I've been busy volunteering at the Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track speed skating event here in Vancouver. It's the first of a series of pre-Olympics events being staffed by VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games). In one sense, it's a set of trial runs for VANOC in the Olympic venues.

I'm hoping that by volunteering for these events I'll have a better chance of being chosen as a Games time volunteer.

I'm on the Technology team in radio distribution. It's not the most glamorous or challenging of positions but I have had the chance to work with some great people. And, since it's not busy during long portions of the shifts, there's time to check out the FOP (field of play) from great vantage points (especially during practice). My camera's shutter speed wasn't fast enough to get a good picture...



It was pretty interesting to see the building transformed from a hockey arena into the configuration for speed skating. Unfortunately, I didn't do before, during and after pictures.

I've watched speed skating on TV before but like many sports, you get a much better appreciation of things watching it live. I don't really know any of the skaters except Apolo Anton Ohno of the US. Some of you may know him best from Dancing with the Stars which he won.

I'm putting in long hours and the 6:00 am shifts are a bit early for my liking but it's been fun. The actual event takes place over the weekend.