Baylor Bearathon 2019HOTARC members provided our radio communications skills to support the Baylor Student Foundation as they held their annual BEARATHON. This year's event was held on March 23, 2019, starting at 8 AM, with race support lasting until 12 PM, with the Start/Finish Line at McLane Stadium. The half-marathon course, and shorter 6k course, give over 2000 runners from across the state opportunity to test their stamina, support the Baylor Student Foundation, and even compete for some cash prizes, as they run from McLane Stadium, through the Baylor campus, along the banks of Lake Brazos, into the scenic roads of Cameron Park—and back. The route was identical to the previous year's route, but the Bearathon team seemed significantly better organized this year. For example, we were all issued a copy of their Emergency Action Plan (EAP) as required reading! 
Our radio-communication positions were at each rest stop, as shown in the map image above, roughly corresponding to the mile-markers along the course. The event sponsors hold the event regardless of weather—hot or cold, rain or shine—except for reports of lightning in the area. This year we had a brief rain shower with some lightning, for which the start was delayed by about 15 minutes, but after the storm moved out of the area, the rest of the morning was beautiful and thankfully uneventful. Side streets all along the course were blocked off with barricades, so we had to arrive early (typically ~7 AM) at our assigned locations, parking on side streets or nearby lots. This year we had bright-orange lanyards for our officially-issued name badges, which also included names and numbers of race officials printed on the back—a handy reference in case of emergency. The orange lanyards clearly identified us as ham radio operators to the rest stop crews. Nice! 
For this event, we successfully used the BARC repeater: 147.16 MHz (tone 123). Stations transmitting from under the trees deep within Cameron Park required more antenna and more power (e.g., mobile rigs). Although 147.16 performed perfectly for this event, all radios were programmed and ready to use backup frequencies: BARC's 442.450 (tone 123), simplex 147.55, or HOTARC's 145.15 (tone 123) and 442.875 (tone 123). HOTARC's efforts were organized and coordinated by Clint Anderson AE5CA, aided by a shared Google sheet displayed on our News page (see captured image here). By race day all of the HOTARC volunteers had their assigned station locations, along with a copy of the EAP, a name tag with the bright orange lanyard, and a nice Bearathon Volunteer t-shirt! Thanks to the many HOTARC volunteers who took up positions (and in some cases, relocated to cover more than one position!) throughout the course.
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