Redding shows up: Hundreds of volunteers power Ironman 70.3 Northern California’s debut

About a month ago, Tiffney Ottoboni got an unexpected call. It was from a friend, who told her that the upcoming Ironman 70.3 Northern California was in need of a volunteer team captain for the safety paddlers. 

“What does that entail?” she asked. He didn’t know, so she got in touch with the volunteer director for the triathlon event. From there, she discovered that she was being asked to head a team of volunteers that would be stationed on kayaks and paddleboards throughout Whiskeytown Lake, ensuring swimmers’ safety during the Aug. 16 race. 

The role wasn’t foreign to her. She’s been a kayaker for over a decade, and she’s currently the co-director of the Lake Redding Regatta, an annual paddling event in the Sacramento River. The surprise came when she was told she would need to find a volunteer team of 120 paddlers — within the next month. 

“My jaw hit the floor,” she said. 

In just a few short weeks, Ottoboni used a “phone tree” approach to wrangle about 120 volunteers who agreed to wake up before the sun on race day to position themselves along the lake for the safety of the athletes. She said the volunteer support made her excited to show the strength of the local community. 

“Redding really came through,” she said.

Nearly 750 individuals volunteered for the Ironman 70.3 this past weekend, a turnout that impressed both Redding officials and those with the Ironman organization. Many volunteers ended up taking on multiple shifts, to the point where maximum capacity for shifts was reached at almost 1,500. 

The majority of volunteers were from Shasta, and several of them said the Ironman was a great way to showcase the area in a positive light and to support local and out-of-town athletes alike. 

Nathan Knudsen, who’s also the executive director of the Redding Trail Alliance, was the volunteer director for this past weekend’s race and events. He said so many volunteers signed up that the Ironman organization ran out of shirts to give them. The sheer number of volunteers was out of the ordinary, Ironman officials told Knudsen, because for many races, they’re struggling just to have enough volunteers to fill shifts. 

One of Knudsen’s main roles was to find the captains to head the various volunteer teams, as well as to organize volunteer operations. He said he spent countless hours working to help things run smoothly, but it was worth it. 

“Even though it was a lot of hard work on my end,” he said, “it really came together because of the community, not because of me.” 

He noted that the Ironman organization allocated $18,000 for him to award to nonprofits that ran and staffed some of the more difficult volunteer teams, and that 11 nonprofits completed the application to receive funding. It was a way for the organization to give back to the community, he said. 

The magnitude of volunteer support and interest made him proud of his community.

“I know our community loves to volunteer, but it still reaffirms and it really gives me good mushy feelings inside about our community,” he said with a chuckle. “If you live here, sometimes you can just start hyper-focusing on the negative, and a lot of times, it’s the negative that gets blown out of proportion. 

“But we also have one of the most amazing, beautiful outdoor recreation areas in a lot of places, and what this does is helps make me fall back in love with my community,” he continued. “Just to see that they, for the most part, embrace something like this.” 

‘A great, different light to shed on Redding’

In recent years, Shasta County has made headlines for its often-divisive political culture, with local and national outlets alike reporting on the area’s political twists and turns in an oftentimes unflattering light. But like Knudsen, several volunteers who spoke to Shasta Scout said bringing an event like Ironman to Redding — and showing the strength of the local community — helps put the area on the map in a positive way. 

Kate Weeger, the volunteer captain of the bike penalty tent for the race, said she has family who lives in the Bay Area who often don’t have a good impression of Redding. “A lot of the highlights they see in the media are not so positive in the light of Redding and what we have going on in our political sphere,” she said.

“This is a great, different light to shed on Redding,” she added, saying the beauty of Shasta County and the volunteer support are what stood out above all else during the race weekend.

Heidi Bradshaw, who was the volunteer captain for the awards ceremony, shared a similar sentiment. She said what’s exciting about this event is that it’s a way to share Redding, a special place to her, with people who have never been here before. 

“Redding has maybe been in the spotlight in a different capacity, but look at the community and how much we show up for you, how we show up for each other and how proud we are to celebrate you,” she said, speaking in terms of how she would like Ironman participants to experience her city. 

“I think that successes like Ironman coming to our community really outshine things that you may see in the news or what we may have been known for.”

Volunteers step up for their community

Bradshaw signed up to volunteer months ago for the Ironman 70.3, she said, because she saw it as a chance to give back to her community.

“When I saw that volunteers were needed, I just figured it was an opportunity to not only cheer our neighbors on, but all of our community,” she said. 

Individuals of all ages volunteered for the race weekend, Knudsen said, from a 6-year-old to a 91-year-old man who worked two separate shifts. There were also several mothers who volunteered with babies in tow.

Many aid stations placed throughout the race were sites of teamwork and celebration. At Aid Station 5 along the bike route, volunteers were dancing to music and placing their bets on who could give away the most water bottles to the bikers speeding past their tents. 

Every time a biker went by, the group of nearly 30 volunteers erupted into cheers, ringing bells and raising their signs. The team, some of whom work together at PACE Engineering, were keeping an eye out for four of their own coworkers who were competing. 

Quinn Harnett, a civil engineer at PACE and volunteer captain for the team, said he had more volunteers sign up than the station originally had capacity for. He’s proud of how the community has shown up to support the event, and while he’s originally from Colorado, he said he was excited to “prove to all the people from outside of town that Redding is a great place to be.”

Annalisa Young was the volunteer captain of the bike checkout area, which is where athletes went to retrieve their bikes after the race was complete. She said she loved her role because she was able to congratulate so many racers for finishing. 

Athletes who spoke with Shasta Scout after the race said they were stunned by how many community members came out to support, and volunteer numbers also impressed Ironman officials considering this was the first race in Redding. Young said she wasn’t surprised by the amount of engagement given how supportive she feels the community is. 

“The fact that we get to volunteer and be a part of it that way, cheer others on,” she said, “that’s really my motivation for getting involved in it.”

Ironman as an inspiration 

Young said she loves sports, CrossFit and coaching, and she considered racing in the Ironman 70.3 this summer, but it wasn’t in the cards for her this year. However, several people from her gym were racing, and she said it’s been inspiring to see so many different types of people competing in the event. 

“What’s cool about that is it doesn’t matter your age, your ability, what your size is, your fitness level. It’s just the fact that you’re interested and doing a hard thing at the end of the day,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how fast you do it, how capable you are, even if you happen to not finish, that’s okay, too. You started, and that is what’s inspiring.”

Bradshaw, the volunteer captain of the awards ceremony, said the Ironman has even motivated her to go on her own health journey. She said she signed up for the Tinman in Siskiyou County next month after volunteering for the Ironman 70.3. 

“It’s just motivating me to push myself,” she said, “and to do something to show my kids that I can do this, too … that I could do anything I set my mind to.”

Ottoboni — the volunteer team captain for the safety paddlers during the swim portion of the race who helped gather about 120 volunteer paddlers — was inspired by how the local community came together to make the race happen. 

She found particular significance in her team of volunteers, who kept eyes on the athletes throughout the swim portion of the race to ensure their safety. The kayaks and paddleboards, stationed just feet away from each other, felt like a safety net, one athlete told Knudsen. Some swimmers even used the paddlers’ boards or kayaks as a steady object to hold if they were fatigued, as the attentive paddlers watched from above and shared words of encouragement.

When asked how she felt the Ironman went a couple days after the race, Ottoboni responded in a simple text: 

“Best experience ever!” 

See more photos of the volunteer effort from Sunday’s event below.

Maya Nelson contributed reporting for this story.

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