Medical Team Volunteers Needed for 2021 Seattle Marathon

UW Medicine has opportunities for medical and administrative volunteers at the Seattle Marathon, Thanksgiving weekend, Sunday, Nov. 28.

Led by Mark Harrast, MD, a sports medicine physician at UW Medical Center and the Seattle Marathon medical director, medical teams will manage three stations along the course and one at the finish line.

What are the mitigation strategies for COVID-19?

This is certainly a different year, but marathon racing has returned in a modified and safe way. Full COVID-19 risk mitigation strategies will be employed at the event, following Seattle King County Public Health and consistent with UW Medicine guidelines. All runners will be fully vaccinated or show proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours of the race start. Start times will be staggered and after-race provisions will be scaled back to limit congregating at the start and finish. Masking will be required for all runners and volunteers when interacting, including in the medical arenas.

We realize all medical staff have been overly taxed during and outside of work throughout the pandemic and that it is not lessening yet. However, we are committed to assisting the race and community in holding a safe event as mass participation endurance events resume this fall.

When are the volunteer shifts?

Volunteers can sign up for all-day, morning or afternoon shifts. A medical team orientation will take place virtually on Tuesday, Nov. 23, in the evening.

Who can volunteer?

Medical team members include physicians, nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, medical assistants and techs, as well as students in these fields and administrative staff. They will be well equipped to handle both routine and complex medical ailments common to endurance events. These include strains and sprains, muscle cramps, blisters and abrasions, hypothermia, heat stroke and exercise-associated collapse, including from cardiac and metabolic disorders.