August 2026 Triple Threat Half Marathon After Race Report
Thank you everyone who volunteered today for the Triple Threat Half Marathon! It may have been hot and muggy further inland, but it was a good day for a race out on the course with cooler temperatures and a pleasant breeze.
The race started on schedule at 8am and the last runner crossed the finish line around 11:30.
There were no runner-related medical incidents on the course. There were a few spectator injuries at checkpoint 3, but nothing that required transport.
Communication went well today! Just a quick reminder that we do need to end our communications with our FCC callsigns to meet legal identification requirements (I mention that because I think I forgot a couple of times).
Thanks to Jon K1TP and Tom AA1TS for ensuring that checkpoint 2 was covered for the entire race.
We are always looking for your feedback and suggestions and we'll often share feedback with the group if it looks like it would benefit everyone. You can always email us at races@caara.net.
Kevin, K1KL & Lars, N1LKS
CAARA Race Coordinators
races@caara.net
Are you interested in running a race support net?
Hello CAARA members!
The race support team is looking for people who are interested in acting as net control for our runner safety nets. We'd like to give people the opportunity to practice communication and coordination skills in a safe and supported setting. You would help coordinate a team of about 8 people (lead vehicle, trail vehicle, and six checkpoints) to ensure the safety of runners for the YuKanRun (https://www.yukanrun.com/) half marathons. These races run about once/month, March/April through December.
If you are interested in taken on this role, we ask that:
- You staff a checkpoint for at least 4 races,
- You shadow an existing net control for 1 race, and
- You're willing to commit to at least three races in the upcoming season
For more information, see the CAARA race support website, https://sites.google.com/view/caararaces, and in particular the "Guidance for CAARA Race Volunteers" document. If you have any questions or if you would like to get involved, feel free to contact us at races@caara.net.
Kevin, K1KL & Lars, N1LKS
CAARA Race Coordinators
July 2026 IPA Half Marathon After Race Report
Thank you for your service today at the IPA half marathon! It was beautiful weather for a race, and while it wasn't the fastest race we've seen, the spread between the first and last runner wasn't a big as we've seen at some other races.
There were no medical events today, but we did have some near-misses involving traffic. We're going to see what we can do about getting some additional assistance to help specifically with traffic safety for races that involve busy intersections.
There were no communication challenges today; the K1KKM repeater worked well for all stations, despite it's somewhat unusual view of the time of day.
We are always looking for your feedback and suggestions and we'll often share feedback with the group if it looks like it would benefit everyone. You can always email us at races@caara.net.
Kevin, K1KL & Lars, N1LKS
CAARA Race Coordinators
races@caara.net
June 2026 Town and Country Half Marathon After Race Report
Thank you for your service this morning. My take from CP5 was that communication was excellent.
The West Newbury repeater performed very well and the reset "beep" did not seem like an issue as in the past.
I was aware of three significant medical emergencies resulting in transport to the hospital. I have no details on outcomes.
It should have been more clear in pre-race information that there was a 5K race starting about the same time and that our lead vehicle was leading the 5K and not the Half-Marathon. The NBPT police prefer to be the only lead vehicle as they use a motorcycle and have a valid concern about being rear-ended. We know that would never happen with our crack driver, AA1TS, but we honor their request.
Thanks everyone for being in position in a very timely way and doing your jobs well.
A couple of points for everyone to remember:
- If you have traffic for the Net, call the Net Controller and ID with your tactical call, e.g., Checkpoint 4, then wait to be acknowledged by Net Control before you send your traffic.
- When Net Control has confirmed receipt of your message, you can end with your callsign (W1ABC clear) to meet FCC requirements.
We are always looking for your feedback and suggestions and we'll often share feedback back out to the group if it looks like everyone would benefit from considering it. You can always email us at races@caara.net.
73
Kevin, K1KL and Lars, N1LKS
CAARA Race Coordinators
June 2026 Twin Lobster Half Marathon After Race Report
Thank you for your service yesterday. It was a huge race with between 1,000 and 1,100 runners on the course.
From the NC perspective communication among us was solid. The W1GLO repeater has been performing very well and our volunteers following protocol for the race was never better.
We are aware of two significant medical emergencies resulting in transport to the hospital. It appeared that dehydration was a factor in both. We were involved in the reporting of one of those emergencies, W1CAF at CP4.
YuKan race support (their van and crew) are working very closely with us behind the scenes and by listening to our net that support is able to respond quickly to situations that we identify. As the YuKan crew cannot transmit on their radio, communication often goes to cell phone between NC and the van. It was a somewhat unusually long race due to the numbers and the speed of the trail-end runners. Kudos to W1PAG in the trail vehicle who is always the last of us to complete his duties in every race.
Thanks everyone for being in position in a very timely way and doing your jobs well. We are always looking for your feedback and suggestions and we'll often share feedback back out to the group if it looks like everyone would benefit from considering it. You can always email us at races@caara.net.
73,
Kevin, K1KL and Lars, N1LKS
CAARA Race Coordinators