Kristen Grote Legacy 5K Race AAR
This after action review of RATS' participation in the Kristen Grote Legacy 5K race on May 13, 2006 is provided by Tillman KI4NGJ, who coordinated our efforts to provide communications support for this event.
"A big Thank You to everyone who participated in the Kristen Grote Legacy 5k this weekend. You all showed good
patience and flexibility as we "figured it out" by the seat of our pants. We prepared as well as we could and our group
provided a very useful service as a result. I know had there been any "incidents" during the race our communications
network would have offered even more benefit. You showed up bright and early and ready to work. I had a great time, and
I enjoyed watching our technology and skills provide a solid communications resource.
Accolades (in no particular order) are as follows:
Jerry Williams, KJ4IT -- Guided traffic and walkers out at the busy New Ashcake Rd. / Linderwood Dr. intersection.
One of the lonlier posts, he handled this duty with much poise and humility. He provided an extra HT for Roy that
afforded Roy extra mobility at net control. Jerry also came out for our scouting trip several weeks ago and helped
test the equipment. He drummed up much enthusiasm from our ham community by talking-up the event on nets and at
meetings. Jerry was 100% behind me from the moment I proposed the idea to him and the board, and I am grateful for
his support.
Jeffrey Seay, N4LFJ -- Jeffrey tackled what turned out to be the lonliest job with a great attitude and not a peep of
complaint -- he served as our Parking Lot station over at New Highland Baptist Church. Even though activity at the church
tapered off after all the participants and spectators arrived, his was a post we needed to cover the whole day (at least
this once). Because of his service we now know what point the car and foot traffic settles down and in future years we
can bring that station back to the event location for other duties. Jeffrey was a great sport and actually volunteered
for this assignment.
Phil Davis, KI4DX -- Phil served several roles for us, including our medic ham, APRS-equipped race sweeper, and APRS
technical resource. He also provided the RATS banner and orange vests (which we'll use more liberally next time HI HI).
Phil also attended our scouting mission and provided technical expertice and equipment that added to the days success.
His support and guidance contributed to our success in a big way.
Mike Baker, N4LSP -- Mike made the extra effort to be at the event after a very late flight the night before and very
little sleep. He even made 2 trips to haul all his gear. Mike provided the tent canopy that kept the sun off Roy, our NCS.
Additionally, Mike took a turn as race sweeper -- on foot nonetheless. He later offered to check routing and signage at the
northeast section of the course after runners complained of wrong turns.
Doug Pickrel KC4YVK, Trey Pollard KI4ITV, and Earl Barwick KI4NAN were our faithful "ground pounders," serving as our eyes
and ears at different positions around the course. Since it was our first time at this and I had little experience to draw
from for their placement, they remained very flexible and adjusted their position to most effectively meet the needs of the
moment. They provided position reports and on-site intel that we wouldn't have had otherwise. All came prepared to be mobile
and humped their gear wherever they went without complaint. Some may have covered more ground than the race runners! These
guys were eager to assist and constantly looked for opportunities to help.
Peter Martin, KF4VIZ -- Peter was one of our key APRS resources, serving as bicycle rover with the lead runners on both races.
His portable gear provided APRS position reports to NCS and he gave voice reports for me (since I was rarely at NCS to see the
monitor). Peter's vehicle (parked at NCS) received the APRS transmissions and we monitored the reports on his laptop. Peter
scouted the venue with us and engineered the roving APRS plan as a result. He also made professional-looking custom name tags
for our volunteers.
Tray Murphy, N4PAT -- Tray operated our APRS station at Net Control and monitored automated position reports of the lead rover,
sweeper vehicle, and the medic golf cart. He also provided the APRS transmitter for the golf cart, which was self-contained
and didn't require a ham to be present for operation.
Roy Davis, WK4Y -- Roy drew from his long net controller experience and served as Control Operator of our NCS station. Roy manned
the base station in front of the clubhouse and did a great job logging communications and key events throughout the day. He was
self-sufficient, providing all of the base station equipment, including his new 24' high mobile mast sporting a Diamond X-50
antenna, quite a show piece!
As you can see, each of you served an important role in this event. It would be a pleasure to serve with each of you again in
the future. Thank you for your service to our community and for serving as ambassadors and good models for what Amateur Radio
can do for our society.
With warmest thanks and big 73,
Tillman Cuttino, KI4NGJ"