Start/Finish Line at the Lodge
Where: Hill Country State Natural Area – Bandera County Texas
When: January 9 and 10th, 2010
What: Tejas Trails – Bandera 100k Ultra Marathon
This event is three races in one, a 25k, 50k and 100k that incorporates nearly every trail on the 5400 acres of Hill Country State Natural Area.
This is a unique situation to train and test EmComm abilities in a remote environment, provide a service, as well as enjoy the Texas Hill Country!
After a meeting with the Race Director during the Cactus Rose 100 this weekend, we have found that the population of this race is anticipated to increase substantially from the 549 last year. A new sponsorship of the event, will be bringing in more out of state participants. Expect up to 800 this year for the three different races!
Please read the following information carefully so you know what is happening, and what is expected of our ham volunteers…
Duties: This is a 24 hour all weather event! Amateur operators man the Aid Stations and duties are basically like any other bike or running event (BP150, MS150, River Safari, etc), relaying supply needs, runner counts and times, and coordinating the Horse Patrol for SAR operations! Operators support Race Control, Aid Stations and the HCSNAP Coordinated Horse Patrol! We are encouraging everyone to actually set-up stations within the Aid Station tent, or within a few feet. Most Aid stations are situated in a manner, to which we could attach and additional EZ-up type canopy to facilitate station set-up! Operators will be required to stay in constant touch with the Aid Station Captain, in order to keep the Database up-to-date.
Needed: Usually we need 10 or so licensed Amateurs to assist with this event, though it has been done with less! A repeater will be set up on a high ridge, but 50 watt dual band portable/mobile EmComm type set-ups preferred! Just in case the repeater fails. Most communications will be done with 5 watts or so through the hilltop repeater, but just in case of a catastrophic failure of the repeater, we can go to simplex. All the Aid stations allow close proximity of your vehicle, so proper crossbanding can be utilized!
The current plan will also incorporate packet operations at each of the Aid Stations.
Individuals and Teams(Organizations ) encouraged to participate! The scenario presented by this event creates some unique training and testing opportunities!
The Amateur Operators, coordinating with the Horse Patrol have been instrumental the last couple of years in extracting injured runners from remote areas of the trail!
Additional Volunteers:
– We are also in need of several more riders for the Horse Patrol. Sorry, I cannot supply horses, you must have your own.
– Also, due to the increase of participants, there will be a need for additional support staff at each of the Aid Stations. If we can get firm commitment from enough individuals, the Amateur Radio community could even adopt an Aid Station. The race coordinator will provide an experienced person to assist in set-up and operation.
Other quick details:
Camping: yes, at all the Aid Stations – no charge to our volunteers! Generators will be allowed in most areas, for this event only! No nearby gas stations, however if you run out of fuel. This is 24 hour operation, and it gets dark at night. Got lighting? LED lights popular and efficient. <Question – ask K1STX
Food: Several Free Meals are provided to the Volunteers! Rumor has it, that there may be a big pot of Gumbo Saturdy night! But bring your own “extra” food & drinks (water, soda, etc) just in case you need / want more.
Weather/Environment : From wild to mild! Anything that Texas can dish out is possible! Hill Country State Natural Area is just that, a natural environment, not changed much since it’s donation to the state by Louise Merrick. This is an all weather event, chances of cancellation are slim to none!
Thank you for your time and interest!
Links of Interest:
HCSNA Park Information: http://tinyurl. com/o99sw
Hill Country Trail Runners: www.tejastrails. com/Bandera. html
Hill Country State Natural Area Partners: www.hcsnap.org
To volunteer or if you have other questions, please contact K1STX at k1stx at arrl dot net, k1stx at yahoo dot com or cell phone – 210-687-4347.
November 8th, 2009 at 11:20 PM
Hi,
The event is looking pretty good for the athletes and enthusiasts to take part.I hope the operators will get proper response for their hard-work to establish this event.