Amateur Radio Operators Volunteer Too!

Eighteen years ago, my telephone rang.  On the other end was an obscure Liberty Baptist College professor by the name of David Horton, and he was calling me because someone told him that I could recruit radio operators to assist with the Lynchburg area’s first ultra race.  I seem to remember that it was a dark and stormy night…

Now, I get LOTS of calls about communications, having coordinated Amateur Radio communications support for more events than I care to think about over the more than 25 years that I have held a license.  This was the first time that someone asked if our radio group could communicate over a fifty mile goat path between Otter Creek and Montebello, Virginia.  And he said they were RUNNING.   I was intrigued.

And so began a relationship that continues today.  I, and other members of The Lynchburg Amateur Radio Club (LARC),  have worked all eighteen MMTR’s, and this spring, we assisted with the latest David Horton walk in the woods, the Promised Land 50k.

What is Amateur Radio?  It is a two way radio service, licensed and administered by the Federal Communications Commission, which allows anyone who can pass a radio theory exam to operate radio transmitters on many different frequency bands.  “Ham” radio operators talk around the world, or next door, across town or across the United States.  Many are dedicated to serving the public by providing emergency and public service radio communications absolutely free of charge, under trying and difficult conditions.  (A trying and difficult condition for a Horton race is that blasted 5:30 a.m. start time that he loves…)

LARC has members from all of the counties surrounding the City of Lynchburg, and numbers some 150 Amateurs on its roster.  There are many different interests in our club, and not all members participate in these events, however, we have done communications for the Virginia Ten Miler for each of its 26 years, and it takes more than 50 of us to cover the course completely.  My volunteer list fills up about a month in advance.

In any of the events we do, participant safety is our primary mission, and this is why you will find the radio folks helping to count runners in and out of aid stations along with the other volunteers.  Losing a runner is the last thing we need, as it means a search and rescue operation that can last into the wee hours.  However, we are prepared to do just that, if necessary.

For most of the events we do locally, we use VHF or UHF radio frequencies,
and special stations called repeaters for our communications.  A repeater is usually placed on a mountaintop, and can “hear” signals from many miles away.  It simultaneously retransmits what it hears, so an operator on one side of a mountain can talk to another on the opposite side with complete understanding.

For the Masochist, we have to be able to communicate from the end of the course, all the way back to the beginning, if necessary.  The Promised Land event was an easy one for us, as the course ran around one of our primary repeater sites in Bedford County, Apple Orchard Mountain.

Amateur Radio operators do these things purely out of dedication and curiosity, as they are not allowed to accept compensation for their services.  Dedication -- we serve our fellow citizens, even though we have
been known to question their sanity!.  Curiosity -- how far CAN we talk, using this radio or that one.  What sorts of interesting gadgets make communicating easier? And hams come from all walks of life, and lots of different interests.

 Those of you who have run the Masochist, or the Promised Land races no doubt remember the large amount of light that is always present for those early morning starts.  One of our club members has a lighting system that he generously hauls in, sets up, and hauls out again, at his expense.  That’s his way of supporting both the races and our club, and we
appreciate him!

We have engineers and electricians, doctors, EMT’s and nurses, bankers and deputy sheriffs, preachers and mail carriers, and even a lawyer or two. I am proud to report that there has never been a challenge thrown at this organization that has not been met.

LARC is not the only Amateur Radio club that does this kind of thing.  There are hundreds of them around the country.  Hams help with the New York and Boston Marathons, to name a couple of famous ones.  They also help out with races in your hometown, I am sure.

For all this assistance, we get thanks.  Federal law precludes us from accepting money or other payments.  We do get t shirts (to identify us as race volunteers) from many of the races, and lunch is often provided. But
the gratitude of the race staff and the runners is our main reward. Every event that I work, runners stop and say thanks, and it means a lot that they know and appreciate what we do.

So,  the next time you are running in that event out in West Lord Knows Where (having started at 5:30 a.m. when the birds and snakes aren’t even awake) and you see some strange looking character at an aid station with a portable radio in hand -- ask if he or she is an Amateur Radio Operator helping with the race, and if so, say thanks.  No more is necessary.

Geep Howell
Amateur Radio Station WA4RTS
Communications Support Team
The One and Only Mountain Masochist Trail Run (and others…)