Before the Boston Marathon, there’s the BAA 5K. This is a short road race, put on by the same organizing team as the Boston Marathon, with a course that runs from the Boston Common through Back Bay and back. The competition is fierce—multiple world records have been set at this event.
Amateur radio volunteers work with medical personnel at this event to provide communications support around supplies, logistics, and dispatch. We were stationed with them at water stations along the route; with prefinish spotters; and with sweep teams working in the post-finish area. Fortunately favorable weather on Saturday helped everything go according to plan, and we didn’t have to deal with any serious emergencies.
Clear communications go a long way to help keep those plans running smoothly, and everyone was sharp and professional on the air. Special thanks to our friends at the Harvard Wireless Club who brought a whole team to support all the post-finish sweep operations: Robert Anderson, KC1IFV; Elton Lossner, KN4GIT; Gunnar Plunkett, KM6NFL; Jeb King, KD9JKT; and William Collins, W1PL. And many thanks to all the volunteers: Scott Gaudet, KC1EXS; Thomas Achtemichuk, W0ZIO; Chris McArdle, KB1REM; Colin McArdle, KB1REL; Peter Sullivan, W1ABC; Rick Savage, KB1LYJ; Kathy Savage, KB1LPW; and Cheyenne Greatorex, N1QZS.