Oct 21, 2007 Bednarek - Thirty Years Volunteering By Doug Kurtis

Sandi Bednarek of Clinton Township has been a Free Press Marathon volunteer every year since its inception. She has worked various jobs such as picking up sweat bags and bus coordinator. Her favorite has been finish line captain, a position she has held for the last ten years.

“Volunteering can hard work but lots of fun”, Bednarek wrote in an email. “Working sweats was a pretty stinky job. Years ago the bus I volunteered on, crashed into a cement divider in the tunnel, then got lost trying to find Jackson Park in Windsor.”

She recalled one year when her husband Dave ran the Free Press Marathon. “He hid a can of Coke under a piece of bark on Belle Isle the day before the Marathon. He strategically placed it so he would remember when he needed it most. He said the look on the runner’s faces was priceless when he popped open the can that he just bent down in stride & picked up on the run.”

“Dave ran 26 out of the 29 Freep Marathons. A couple of times, we flew out to Venice, Italy and he ran the Venice Marathon the Sunday following.”

Year after year, Bednarek has always found the marathon to be very well organized and runners very appreciative of all the volunteers. “That's why it continues to make leaps & bounds every year....soon we will be #1.”

For the last thirty four years, Bednarek has been employed by the Detroit Media Partnership as an advertising account executive. “It gives me the opportunity to do something I love - travel.”

Staff members know Sandi for her enthusiasm and self deprecating humor. She proclaimed that, “I LOVE MY FREE PRESS...and I love the Marathon! I've really had an outstanding opportunity to meet a lot of great people (marathon committee members and volunteers). I totally appreciate my volunteers and feel blessed that they decide to come back year after year after year.”