Farragut 13.1 Race 2017

METERS Supports Another Race

Well before sunrise on Saturday, several METERS members were heading towards their assigned positions in support of the Knoxville Track Club's half marathon: the Farragut 13.1 (click the link for a course map). They weren't the only crazy people out this time of day - a few hundred runners were en route and preparing for a nice run on a beautiful day.

Comms were good using Tim Berry's (WB4GBI) 146.625 repeater. Net Control was a the start-finish line at Farragut High School.  Excellent comms were provided during the race using a radio/go kit provided by Barry Brown (K4BLB) and 2m antenna provided by Bill Renaud (WR4MS). Keith Gaines (KC4YYF) successfully tested use of the new Mission Manager software he mentioned at one of our previous METERS meetings. (This software has a wide range of capabilities including APRS, messaging, and ongoing incident support. I'm sure we'll hear more about it in future training sessions.)

We had three water stops: ALPHA was manned by David Brandt (KE6IMN) and Larry Noe (W4NOE); CHARLIE was manned by John Randle (K9RSQ); and DELTA was manned by Rick Frost (K4REF) and John Dever (KJ4HWH). We even have some pics to share from the event.

I know right about now you're wondering what happened to water stop BRAVO. It appeared on one of our earlier maps provided by race officials. However, it was not marked the same as the other stops. So, we decided late Friday to forget about that stop. As it turns out, it was the right decision - it was never intended to be a water stop, but was left on an early version of the map.

Thankfully, there were no issues reported other than a water stop running out of water. (This, of course, was communicated to race officials and handled.) We provided an HT to David Black, Knoxville Track Club's Event Manager, so he could monitor the race in real time. Sheriff Randy Eddington (N4VAZ) monitored the frequency as well.

Thanks to the volunteers who made this another successful METERS event. In addition to supporting our served agencies, as individual hams, it's always a learning experience.

73,

Barry K4BLB