Well, this weekend was the baker to vegas run, and a great time was had
by all.

This special event is a 120 mile marathon relay race for members of law
enforcement, and drew 200 teams from all over the world. Teams were
present from as far away as Berlin and Australia.

The race is run through the Mojave desert of California and Nevada and
takes 24 hours to complete. It starts in Baker California (about an hour
or so east of death valley), and winds through the mountains of
California state route 127 to Pahrump Nevada, where it continues down
Nevada state route 160 to Las Vegas. There are twenty relay stations
manned by race volunteers, and ham volunteers. These stations are used
as comfort/medical stations and relay points (a baton is passed to the
next runner in the team).

Hams provide official timing and rule violation notification as well as
setting up and manning a communications net to cover the broad expanse
of the desert used for the race. APRS was used with some race teams that
were interested in its use.

Hams are also used for "early warning" - that is, to alert a team at a
station that their runner and chase vehicle is one mile out and
approaching the station, so as to allow the runner taking the next leg
of the race to be ready when the present runner arrives. Hams are
positioned on the course one mile from each station to read off the team
number of the runners as they go by, transmitting this information to
the next station. Hams on motorcyles patrol the route alert for any
situation that might pose a safety hazard, or to call in medical
assistance should it be needed.

This was my first year working this special event, although I had heard
of it for many years. I was fortuanate to be placed at a station with a
wonderful group of hams who made me feel very welcome even though I was
a newcomer to their rather seasoned group. It was wonderful, and I look
forward to participating in this and other special event activities
every year.

best regards,

Mathew

--
ROT 13 this address to mail me:

bar jbeq abg guerr; uvtu qrfreg zna, gura nqq - ng lnubb qbg pbz.