Once again, the March Snickers Marathon and Half Marathon was a showcase event for the city of Albany. The weather was perfect, and the blooming azaleas and Bradford pears highlighted the beauty of the course as nearly 1,300 runners traversed our city. But if you talked to participants after the race, the great weather and the awesome course probably weren’t the first things they complimented. Rather, it was probably how smoothly the operation ran and how helpful, supportive and genuinely nice the volunteers were. That’s no accident.

As always, Rashelle Beasley and her Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau team did an amazing job organizing the marathon. More than 1,000 volunteers — individuals and groups representing more than two dozen local organizations — dedicated their time to make sure the runners had an exceptional Albany experience. Volunteers worked the expo the night before the race, helping runners check in. On race day, they were at the start line and on the course before daybreak. They directed traffic and handed out water on the course and greeted racers at the finish line with medals and words of congratulations.

Albany Police manned the course, and the city worked closely with Georgia DOT to block off roads. Oxford and Reeves construction companies provided traffic barrels for free so lane closures met DOT specifications. Buffalo Rock provided water and Gatorade at a huge discount. Dougherty County helped with security, and Phoebe’s Sports Medicine team operated medical tents on the course and finish line to care for runners in distress.

Between race activities and the Downtown Street Festival, this day is one of the biggest days of the year in Albany. It is truly a time when our community comes together to show the best of what we have to offer to visitors. In 2018, runners came from 29 states plus the District of Columbia, Canada and Mexico, and they had an estimated $600,000 economic impact on our community. The Phoebe Family would like to thank all those visitors for choosing to spend some time in our city and all the local runners, workers and volunteers who helped make this year’s Snickers Marathon and Half Marathon a rousing success.

We also want to thank the race board of directors for choosing to donate proceeds from the race to Phoebe Hospice at Willson Hospice House. Everyone who had a hand in this year’s event should be proud of how you helped promote our great city. You should also be proud that you will help our team at Willson Hospice House serve Southwest Georgia families with compassion and dignity as they face an end-of-life illness. That is an outstanding legacy for one of our community’s most outstanding events that we hope will only continue to grow and serve as an example of what we can accomplish when we work together.

Joel Wernick is President/CEO of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital.