I was at one of the 16 water stations at the Frederick Marathon. Like most of the stations this one just offered water and Gatorade. Two stations also had fruit and gel.

I picked this station for two reasons. First, and most important, it was located a little past the four-mile marker. I figured most of the roughly 2,700 people that were scheduled to run this morning would be in the race at this station. Second, it was manned by people from the newspaper. They all knew who I was and wouldn’t be wondering who was this guy writing down notes instead of helping out.

It was rather quiet as I walked up to the water station. There were some cones on the streets for the race and police were standing by to close some roads and direct traffic. I saw one man heading for early church services. It was a very calm time, but things would change shortly.

When I got to the water station there were seven volunteers on hand, about half the number expected. An eighth joined about a half hour later.

Waiting for them were 26 cases of water, each case filled with six gallon jugs of water. There were three cases of concentrated Gatorade which had to be mixed with water in seven-gallon drums.

The race was scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. and the volunteers wasted no time mixing three drums of Gatorade and pouring the sport drink and water into cups. The secret was to fill each cup only halfway so the water or Gatorade wouldn’t spill. Runners and volunteers don’t like it when they get all wet. The water cups were from the 2006 Baltimore Marathon.

The first crisis. A spout on one of the Gatorade drums didn’t work. So one of the volunteers took a broom handle and hit it on the top of the spout. Soon the sport drink started to come out. Problem solved.

There were five tables set up, the first three with Gatorade the last two with water. Trash cans were nearby. There was also one portable bathroom. A nearby couple stood in their doorway and watched.

“My mom’s doing it,” 10-year-old Juvan Stewart said when asked why he was helping out. He was the youngest of the volunteers and the night before had run in the Twilight 5K race which is part of the marathon. “So far it’s easier than I thought,” he said.

By 7:30 a.m. all the cups on the tables were filled. I counted about 200 cups on each table. A course official drove by and said the race had just started.

It was just a time to wait and hope everything was ready. There was small talk.

The temperature was still in the 40s. One smart volunteer brought gloves and put them on. Others just complained about the cold.

At 7:50 a.m. two police motorcycles headed toward the water station. In back of them were the first three runners.

There was a lull for a few minutes and then the runners started coming in droves. The volunteers stood out in front of the tables handing out drinks.

More than half the runners took something, most of them water.

“Where’s the water, where’s the Gatorade,” they would yell. Some said “thank you” as they took a cup. Others just grabbed a cup and ran on. Many took nothing.

The runners kept coming.

About half of the liquid seem to spill out of the cups when the runners took them. Some of the liquid spilled on the volunteers and some on the street.

“My arms are already sticky,” said one of the volunteers who was handing out Gatorade.

The runners kept on coming.

The volunteers kept on handing out drinks as fast as they could. By 8 a.m.a swarm of runners came through. There were trash cans nearby and some the runners tried to throw their cups into them. Most missed. Many runners just dropped their cups on the ground. It was mayhem.

“Sorry,” one runner said as he spilled Gatorade on one of the volunteers.

The runners kept coming.

A line formed at the portable bathroom. The street was sticky with Gatorade.

The runners kept coming.

Some would stop and drink. Most would drink as they ran. At his juncture of the race most were still running. Despite the weather they were in shorts and short-sleeve shirts. One runner was barefoot.

The runners kept coming.

A few spectators had gathered on the other side of the street. A man rode by on his bike carry a sign that said “Go Emily.”

The runners kept coming.

By 8:07 a.m., the filled cups at the first two Gatorade tables were gone. The volunteers tried to fill them up more up from the drum spout, but then gave up. They just took the top off the drum, filled a cup halfway and handed it to the runners. They had to mix new drums of Gatorade.

The runners kept coming.

One guy wanted to know if anyone had a banana daiquiri. There were six people lined up at the bathroom.

The runners kept coming.

Then the wind picked up. Soon cups were blowing all over and I could hear was the sound of cups rolling along the street. It became difficult to fill the water cups. A box blew out into the street.

By 8:20 a.m. the worst was over. There were still runners, but the stream had lessened a great deal. The volunteers were able to catch up. By 8:25 a.m. there were only a few people left. The volunteers were already starting to clean up.

“I didn’t think it was that bad,” said volunteer Larry Routzahn. “We had everything set up.”

“I thought it would have been worse,” said Juvan Stewart. “I didn’t think we would be able to keep up.”

By 8:30 a.m. all was calm again. North Market Street was open to traffic. It looked like a normal Sunday in downtown Frederick .

The volunteers finished cleaning up. It wasn’t easy. There were cups all over the place.

Most of the volunteers would head home, change out of their sticky clothes and rest. I was headed to Baltimore and the Orioles game. I figured no matter what happened in that game it wouldn’t be as hectic as what happened at the water station that morning.