The weekend of the Ogden Newspapers 20K Classic Run and Walk is a big one for many members of the Ohio Valley Road Runners & Walkers Club.

One of the main purposes of the club, which is home to more than 150 local running and walking enthusiasts, is to promote running and walking in the Ohio Valley.

And there's no better time than Ogden Race weekend, May 27-28, to get that message across.

To that end, many members of the club volunteer to help with the Friday evening events - the Ogden Tiny Tot Trot, the Ogden Fun Run, and the Ogden Mile.

"We feel being an integral part of the running and walking community, we should be involved," said Tom Rownd, president of the club.

For several years, club members have been happy to oversee the Friday night events, often coordinated by past president Denny Stephan. This year Georgia Hamilton, editor of the group's bi-monthly newsletter among other responsibilities, has taken over.

"It's a lot of matching people to different tasks," Hamilton said.

Her first charge was to recruit volunteers.

"We put feelers out," she said, "and got a very good response."

Numbering in the 30s, club volunteers, who will be wearing bright orange T-shirts on race weekend, are asked to handle a variety of things, such as manning registration tables, controlling traffic, and making sure the participants are in the right place at the right time.

That might sound easy enough until you consider some of the events, such as the Ogden Tiny Tot Trot, is strictly for children 5 and under.

For that race, volunteers must register the kids, give them a T-shirt, make sure they are lined up in the proper place, and that they're rewarded with a ribbon after the race.

And, they've got to have volunteers on the course, letting the parents know the best place to stand to see their children run.

"We'll have people on the course in different places for the different races trying to capture all of the questions," Hamilton said.

Helping with events like the Tiny Tot Trot is a no-brainer for the club.

"One of the things we want the kids to discover is that running is fun," Rownd said.

The Ogden Fun Run is a non-competitive, one-mile run for kids 12 and under. In this case, volunteers make sure everyone is registered, ensure the participants get on the busses that shuttle them to the top of Wheeling Hill, and man the intersections to make sure no traffic gets on the race.

The Ogden Mile - the fastest mile run in America -requires the same out of volunteers, with one major difference.

Timing. In order to coordinate time properly, workers must be in constant contact with each other from the beginning of the course to the end.

Hamilton will hold a training session on May 16 to let the volunteers know what's expected of them.

On Friday of race weekend, she figures she'll show up a the start/finish line around 3 p.m. and begin setting up for what figures to be a whirlwind couple of days.

"It hasn't been too bad so far," Hamilton said. "That night will be the true test."

Because almost a third of the club's members either run or walk in Saturday events, Rownd said there's no formal volunteer process for race day.

Still, he knows he'll see some club members working a water station or at a registration table.

"I couldn't guess how many," he said, "But I know there will be some."