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I got my first real operational experience this past weekend in support of the Mountain Lakes 100 event. If a regular marathon isn't worth your time and and ultramarathon is not enough of a challenge you can run 100 miles of mountain trails between Olallie and Timothy Lake and back. Race details are here: Mountain Lakes 100

I recently joined a local amateur radio club that provides communication support for several outdoor events and was offered an opportunity to work with another club member at one of the aid stations. Since we were posted in the clubs trailer one of our duties was to act as Net Control for most of the event. Our shift was long lasting from 4:00 PM Saturday through 7:30 AM Sunday, but was still a lot of fun and very rewarding.

All I can say is that this was one heck of a great learning experience, and not just about communications operations. To start with these type of ultra marathons have been around for quite a while and are increasing in popularity. Also, there are 200 mile races that take place over five days. One of which is around Mt. St. Helens.

We spent quite a lot of time working with Karen, who oversaw operations at our aid station, so I asked her some questions about the runners and got some surprising answers. The first is that the average age of the runners is around 40. Let that sink in a bit. The oldest runner was 61 and almost completed the course. The oldest runner who did complete was 59. Both of these were women as were a healthy percentage of the runners. Of the 160+ runners who started over 140 completed the race. There was a higher dropout rate this year because a fair amount of the race involved running through the snow. I think it's time that the phrase "runs like a girl" is put to rest.

Our station, one of 11, was called the Clackamas Ranger Station, even though it never was one - it's actually the site of the Clackamas Lake Historic cabin,marked AS 9/12 on the map, making it the 9th stop as runners went north, and then the 12th stop after turning around and heading back south to Olalli Lake.

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Here is the runners entrance to Clackamas Ranger Station, you can see our antenna poking out just to the left of the white canopy in the foreground (the timekeeping station):
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Here is a picture of our trailer with Paul, who is the Secretary Treasurer of our club
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And a picture of Rich, who patiently taught me the ropes. Note the hand blur as he went for yet another face palm:
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A view of the comms we used for this event, we used a pair of Yaesu FTM-400DR transceivers. The one of the left was the active unit and the one on the right was a backup. The papers are covering the damage that Rich did banging his head on the desk when I took control the first time:
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A view of the food station, warming tent (in the middle), and the First Aid station. They must have served hundreds of pounds of bacon and waffles and countless amounts of coffee during the event, finally closing up at 5:00 AM this morning:
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Giving information radioed in from another station to Jim the timekeeper, left, with the gent who manned communications at the turnaround point (AS10/The Dam) on the right.:
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Coordinating with the Med Techs to get aid sent to injured runners. Aid Station manager Karen is the lady in the blue coat in the food station behind them. Everybody was terrific to work with!:
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I didn't manage to get any photos of the runners coming through because they were running so fast I didn't have time for my camera to turn on between the time we heard cheers and horns and when they blew past without stopping.
 
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The dynamics of the race are that the runners take off and are then followed by "sweepers" who try to ensure that assistance is given to anybody who falls behind. If they get to an aid station and not all runners have been accounted for then some of them are sent to find them. This became very critical as well as difficult after it got dark, and resulted in a great deal of communications between the stations.

We used a repeater placed high on Mt. Hood to help connectivity in this very hilly and rugged environment, but still had situations where calls needed to be relayed through a third station.

Now we are getting into the actual communications and why this thread in in the preparedness subforum. Due to the complexity of communications we used a managed communication plan called a directed net with one station acting as Net Control, similar to air traffic control at an airport. All ordinary communication was between a given aid station and net control. If one station needed to contact another, then they requested permission from Net Control. This was to ensure that there were no conflicting calls as well as to ensure that urgent messages such as medical attention or locating missing runners were given priority above all other calls.

Here is an overview from our marathon net operations document. I will see if the club will permit me to post the entire document as it is quite well written:

Nets operated during a marathon are directed nets. This means that:
1. Net Control is the controlling authority for the net.
2. All communications are controlled by Net Control.
3. No communications occur with other stations that are not cleared by Net Control.
4. All stations that check into the net must remain in the net until released by Net Control.
5. All stations are to use their tactical call sign during the net.
6. When initiating a contact between stations, the word "over" is not necessary.
7. During an exchange, the word "over" must be used if the transmitting station is expecting a response.
8. At the end of an exchange, the word "out" must be used to signify that no response is expected, and the exchange is complete.
9. When you close a conversation, you must sign with your TACTICAL call sign followed by your FCC call sign.

My station, consisting of Rich and myself was Net Control from 4:00 PM Saturday to 7:30 AM this morning. My first ever Amateur Radio communication was acting as net control. At first I had a few protocol issues, but quickly got on track after I made a few notes. The other club volunteers posted at the various stations were patient with my mistakes and gave me assistance. In particular I was keying the mike too quickly after a received transmission, but was politely coached to wait a few seconds.

Normal traffic was reporting bib numbers and runner times to the stations that had a time station with data entry (which is what we mostly did before taking over as Net Control), coordinating the delivery of food, water, and staff. We also helped to locate staff en route and sometimes re-route them elsewhere. We set up several third party calls between officials as well as support teams and runners. There is an amazing amount of logistics that take place and I don't see how you could manage an event this large and complex without communications. I know have a much better understanding of how communications are a force multiplier.

There was a fair amount of urgent traffic trying to locate lost runners or getting aid to injured runners. The worst injury was a late night/early morning broken wrist suffered by a sweeper who was sent to find a missing runner that had failed to report as he passed through an aid station. There was also one runner who developed a breathing issue but recovered before assistance could arrive. Outside of that there were only a few issues reported.

What is great about assisting these events is that you are practicing the same protocols you would during an actual emergency. Others such as the med techs were effectively doing the same thing. If you have a desire to participate in emergency communications these are outstanding ways to get experience. It's also useful if you are monitoring emergency comms.

I had a great experience and got several weeks of exposure in a few hours. I will be participating with my club in future events to get sharper and retain what I learned.
 
Interesting read. I myself am an amatuer radio operator and I utilize mainly the 2m repeater systems.
 
My ham club works the Cascade Crest 100 race, we just had it about a month ago. It's pretty crazy watching people run 100 miles through the mountains!! And yes, the average runner age is quite high. The winners are usually in their mid/late 30s and it's one of the few physical events that doesn't favor youth.
 
My ham club works the Cascade Crest 100 race, we just had it about a month ago. It's pretty crazy watching people run 100 miles through the mountains!! And yes, the average runner age is quite high. The winners are usually in their mid/late 30s and it's one of the few physical events that doesn't favor youth.

That aspect and the fact that a high percentage of runners finish floored me.
 
That aspect and the fact that a high percentage of runners finish floored me.
I still can't comprehend starting a run at 9am.... running until it gets dark.... running all through the night and finishing at some point the next day. Blows my mind!! LOL. I don't even know if I could drive for that long!
 
I still can't comprehend starting a run at 9am.... running until it gets dark.... running all through the night and finishing at some point the next day. Blows my mind!! LOL. I don't even know if I could drive for that long!

I can't even sleep as long as these people can run. It's amazing what the human body is capable of doing.
 
Any of you Hams without plans for the 8th, W7LT an use help with the Portland Marathon. Not much time left, but I'm sure they would appreciate the help. I'm unfortunately not able to go. :

"Portland Amateur Radio Club, W7LT, is looking for a few more volunteers to help with the Portland Marathon next Sunday, Oct 8. Register on the portlandmarathon.org web site - click Volunteer at the top and select Communications/ham radio. Or send email to Steve Tarr [email protected] or Pete Rodabaugh [email protected]."​
 
Also, Karen posted this on the ML100 FaceBook page. She is also putting together a class aimed at the entry level Technician license, which allows you to use the 2 meter bands used for most events:

PDX ULTRA HAMS – check us out on Facebook!
Did you know that many of the races you run would not happen if a Ham Radio Operator was not involved? Yep this is true; it is a requirement of the permit for the race. If the RD is unable to satisfy the requirement of Ham Radio operators a permit will not be granted.
WE NEED YOU!
To become a licensed Ham Radio Operator is simple; you study from a list of 500 questions where 35 are pulled for the test. The cost is $15 and the license is good for 10 years. Renewal is paying your fee.
WHY SHOULD YOU DO THIS?
Ham Operators are in high demand and low in numbers. Unless you have a license you cannot broadcast on the airwaves. Just imagine if you were sweeping a race and had a radio with you. You could radio information from your location instead of waiting until you reach the next aid station. You are not running a race but want to volunteer; being at an AS is just not your thing. You could be the Ham Radio Operator for that location. The options are unlimited!
NEXT STEPS
I am putting together a class; we will meet for one in-class educational session and then test in November. This is where you guys need to step up, commit and help out your running community. The current group of Ham Operators is a small group that is getting smaller and smaller. Without Ham Radio Operators ultra's will not happen.
Please PM me if you are 100% committed to participating with the class session and testing. Here is a nice article for you to read about Ham Radio Operators and the role in our wonderful ultra world.

Why Ultras Need Ham Radio | Ultrarunning Magazine
 
You are very correct and this was a great opportunity to train but also help. Very informative posts, thanks for sharing in such detail.

My personal goal, once I have accumulated the equipment, is to participate in emergency telecom through ARES, RACES, and or CERT. That's why these types of events are a perfect fit since they use a managed communication plan. Plus it's a whole lot of fun and you get to give back to the community at the same time.
 
My personal goal, once I have accumulated the equipment, is to participate in emergency telecom through ARES, RACES, and or CERT. That's why these types of events are a perfect fit since they use a managed communication plan. Plus it's a whole lot of fun and you get to give back to the community at the same time.
IMO you should do CERT. You have comms and can expand but CERT will give you other training and you will learn something guaranteed. If anything it will help you discover what other education and certifications you want to acquire.
 

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