When Tony Katris ran the Honolulu Marathon in 2007, he noticed the medical tent.

So, the next year Katris, a surgeon who also teaches at the University of Hawaii’s medical school, joined the estimated 3,000 volunteers who work at the marathon.

Honolulu Marathon President Jim Barahal made sure to express his appreciation at Sunday’s awards presentation.

“First, I’d like to thank all the volunteers,” Barahal said. “They’re still out there.”

Barahal spoke at about 1:15 p.m. — about 8 hours, 15 minutes into the race. At 2:10 p.m., the medical tent did not appear to be crowded.

Around 450 of the volunteers are in medical jobs, said Dory Clisham, another volunteer who handles medical logistics.

“You’ve got 30,000 people, including 9,000 from Japan,” Clisham said.

Katris, who also teaches at Tripler and Straub, said the medical tent is much better equipped than it was when he started.

“(Volunteering is) more fun than running it,” said Katris, who often brings students from the John A. Burns School of Medicine to learn and help.

Like Katris, Dr. Linton Yee is on call for emergencies. They spring into action when a marathoner is brought into the tent on a stretcher.

Katris lives in the Diamond Head area, but many other volunteers are from all over the world and come here to help every year.

Yee has family in Hawaii but lives in Durham, N.C. , where he is associate dean at the Duke University medical school. He has come every year since 1994 to volunteer at the medical tent, except for the pandemic year.

Angela Dan lives in Beijing and started volunteering when there was a push for more runners from China.

“First it was to help the Chinese runners,” she said. “Even without the Chinese here I enjoy it. It’s so beautiful here.”

Yoko Wakabayashi has come from Japan 31 times to volunteer. Although her primary job is to assist the elite runners, Wakabayashi also helps those in the back of the pack.

“I follow the last runner. It’s usually one from Japan,” said Wakabayashi, who encourages them to not give up.

“It’s a very emotional experience. It made me cry a bit.”

Barahal encourages supporting the marathoners struggling in the rear.

“We welcome the final finisher as much as the first finisher,” he said,

George Parrott, 79, comes from Sacramento, Calif., for the marathon. The psychology professor emeritus is one of the many greeters who line both sides of the chute after the finish line. Parrott, who ran 10 Honolulu Marathons, has been a volunteer for the past eight.

His job is two-fold, he said.

“It’s a combination. Because I ran so much I’m a pretty good judge of if someone needs medical attention,” Parrott said. “It’s also a wonderful opportunity to help people consolidate what a great accomplishment they just completed.”

Parrott said he wishes more marathoners would train properly.

“The problem with this race is so many are not ready for it,” he said. “To prepare for the marathon it takes a long time.”

And staging one takes a lot of volunteers. Maybe a volunteer of the year should get one of those real solid gold medals like the winners of the races receive.