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| This was around 7 AM. 7-ish. |
Today was the morning of the Queen Bee Half Marathon, and I along with 40 or so other hams were providing communications for the staff.
As this was my first marathon, I was grouped up with our club's president, and I carpooled with her to our station (shown above) at the designated time. Since I was driving to her place first, that meant I was up at 5 AM to have an early breakfast, get dressed, and get out the door with my equipment by 6 AM.
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| I think I'm going to have to stop by this coffee shop for a visit soon. The coffee smelled delicious. |
The water station was manned by kids from one of the nearby high schools, and we were joined soon after our arrival by spectators wanting to cheer on the participants.
Our presence was there to not only contact Net Control for assistance --medical or otherwise-- should it be needed, but to also let Net Control know who the lead runners were so others would be on the lookout farther down the race course. Our water station was one of the earlier ones, so I expected people to be clumped together once they reached us.
To my surprise, that wasn't what happened.
The lead runners were moving at a really fast pace and were already well ahead of the main body of runners by the time they passed us, but eventually the field swelled. I could have easily taken dozens of pictures, but these two will do:
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| These were some of the first runners after the lead pack came through. |
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| Once the runners had mostly passed by, the race walkers were behind them, moving at a steady pace by themselves. |
Typically the Queen Bee draws between 4000-6000 participants*, and that jives with what I saw this morning.
As far as incidents goes, they thankfully were few and far between, so it was an enjoyable morning for the two of us. After the sweep bus came through (following the last of the participants) and we were discharged, the a few of us hams grabbed a mid-morning breakfast at a local restaurant before heading home.
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| Okay Pippin, you win. Yes, it was a Second Breakfast. From Pinterest, but really, it's from Fellowship of the Ring. |
So... That's what I was up to.
*There's both a Half Marathon and a 4-Miler race, so unofficially there were 3174 who completed the half marathon and 2209 who completed the 4-Miler, which makes it about 5383 total. There were a few hand cyclists on the course as well, and they started (and finished) ahead of the official Half Marathon. Our station would have seen both the Half Marathon and the 4-Miler crowds, and given that not everybody who started was able to finish, we probably saw even more than the people who actually finished.
Just out of curiosity, why use radio people for coordination here instead of just phones?
ReplyDeleteIn case you're wondering, I was asking this exact question when I got started: why use amateur radio these days when cell and internet is so ubiquitous?
DeleteDirect smartphone communication does work, and we do have phone numbers to call should it be required. However, the concept of a net (or a group audio call) allows everybody to hear the communications between a central operator so all are aware of any situations.
If there isn't a dedicated volunteer at each site to handle communications, that responsibility then would fall to the captain of each station, who already has their hands full making sure the other volunteers are doing their jobs and handling reports from race participants or others who may come to the station.
You and I are used to nets these days, courtesy of MMO raids and Teams/Zoom calls for work/school/etc., but one of the things that sets these comms apart from Teams or Discord or Zoom is that we aren't reliant upon a third party application or a proprietary encryption method to communicate (let alone a cell or Starlink subscription). As long as you have a radio that operates on the correct frequency you can participate (if licensed) or listen in.
That leads into another aspect of utilizing amateur radio operators: the license itself that allows us to operate on radio frequencies requires that we operate on a purely voluntary fashion. It is stipulated in the FCC regulations that amateur radio operators aren't allowed to demand payment for any services they provide. We are a ready pool of volunteers that any organization can draw upon to provide communications. The devices we use are not proprietary, either; another part of the regulations is that we do not utilize encryption over the airwaves. That obviously has some downsides, such as people jamming radio frequencies for their own amusement or for malicious reasons, but the upside is that amateur communications aren't secret.
While yes, cell communications are clearer and the more obvious choice, amateur radio can be a superior option in situations when the cell networks are swamped in certain locales. I've been to places with thousands of people, and cell coverage can become quite spotty due to too many people using cell services within a small-ish location. With amateur radio, you don't have to build out more infrastructure to handle huge crowds.
Cool, thanks for explaining!
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