Physiotherapists and student physios are needed as volunteers for the London Marathon, to be held on 23 April.
Photo: Virgin Money London Marathon
Stop Press 3 March: the organisers now have enough volunteers to cover the event due a fantastic member response. Thanks to everyone who has offered to, or wanted to help out.
Up to 15 physios are being sought for the finish area and the same number of students are needed for medical stations on the 26.2-mile course.
Last year, 900 athletes were treated at the finish, head physio Rory Brown told Frontline. So far, 50 volunteers have been recruited.
On the course, organisers have filled their quota of 60 physios and have signed up 45 students of a required 60.
High turnover
Abbi Taylor and Debra Silver are the joint head physios for the route, which sees a higher turnover of runners needing attention than the finish.
‘We spread people throughout the course depending on the statistics from previous years,’ said Ms Taylor. ‘If they were really busy we’d shuffle physios around next time.’
In 2016, the total number of runners treated by physios along the course was 1,125. Of those, 829 were treated in a peak two-hour period at the medical station in sector 5, which covers the 14-23 mile stretch of the route.
Student scribes
Students are paired with a physio who they assist by taking down the runner’s number and dealing with treatment documentation.
‘It provides the student with invaluable experience and is good for their CVs,’ said Ms Taylor.
Meanwhile, stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands is looking for four physio volunteers to support runners raising funds for them. Email piers.gilbert@uk-sands.org
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