Last Sunday, October 20, brought the 21st running of the MDI Marathon and Half-Marathon. The previous blog post (below) highlighted the people and procedures set in place to provide emergency communications for this highly anticipated event. This post celebrates a successful day and job well done!
The local press is filled with photos and stories of the winners and interesting notes, such as the announcement that this year’s race had the largest number of registrants yet with over 2,400 runners planning to complete the course. Another bit of news was that three of the runners on Sunday were also runners in the very first race back in 2002. One of the three, Deb Shissler, is a ham (N1FQ) and former member of the EAWA who now lives in Texas. Chris K1WJY was fortunate to spot Deb as she ran by. Deb’s husband Kevin K1FQ was also in attendance to support his wife.
What you didn’t read in the local coverage is anything about the EAWA EmComms — and that’s how it should be! As Joan W1DLC remarked, “Barbara’s (KC1SSY) marathon preparations and Jeff’s (KA1DBE) Net Etiquette program clearly prepared the team for its communication responsibilities.” Our goal is to do our part behind the scenes and allow the runners to shine.
The EAWA in conjunction with the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency has provided emergency communications for the marathon since the first race in 2002. In addition to many EAWA members strategically placed throughout the course, EAWA member Chris AB1PZ, the Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Hancock County, kept track of all information from the EMCOMM trailer positioned near the finish line. From this vantage point Chris was able to monitor the locations of the leader runners and the last runner. Had an emergency occurred, he would have been in place to pass along information to provide a quick response.
This year Jeff KA1DBE and his wife Bernie KI4VCR experimented with DMR simplex for communications between them as one or the other was recording bib numbers as the runners passed by. Bernie remarked at the beautiful weather for race day. She and Jeff also met Deb N1FQ as she ran by.
While Mark W1ABY and Mel W1MEB enjoyed the action from Mark’s jeep, Barbara KC1SSY and Bill KC2NMK were generally out cheering the runners over the top of the last hill before winding down to the finish line.
Barbara KC1SSY did a great job planning and organizing the EAWA members for this important event. She worked closely with the team to make sure everyone had the knowledge needed to do their parts. Thanks Barbara and all the EAWA Team members! The next marathon is scheduled for October 19, 2025. As with every year of the MDI Marathon’s history, the EAWA will be ready to support the runners once again.
Written by Marion W1GRL
W1TU 