Thank you to everyone who helped out in today's Barns and Blooms Half Marathon! We could have asked for better weather but it was otherwise an uneventful race. We had two runners drop out around checkpoint 1 and walk back; there were no other dropouts or other incidents reported. The race started on the dot at 8:00AM; the final runner crossed the finish line at 11:12AM.

Thanks to Peter AB1PL for handling two checkpoints today!

This race can sometimes be challenging from a communication perspective. The pre-race information indicated that a mobile radio and antenna would be necessary; I suspect a standard HT with a raised antenna (car top, or on a mast) may also have helped. I was working the race with an HT connected to a mag mount antenna on top of my van; I noticed a distinct drop in quality when I switched to a regular HT antenna when I needed to leave the van.

I'd like to remind everyone that when communicating with net control during a race, you should identify with your tactical callsign. For example, if I was working checkpoint 1 and needed to call net control, I would say:

Checkpoint 1 to Net control

I would not say:

Checkpoint 1, N1LKS, to Net control

Close your conversation with your FCC callsign to meet identification requirements. A simple conversation might look like this:

CP1: Checkpoint 1 to net control

NC: Net control answering checkpoint 1

CP1: Two runners have dropped out of the race and are walking back to the start line. N1LKS clear.

NC: Net control confirms two runners have dropped out of the race at checkpoint 1. N0CAL clear.

We're currently in need of two additional checkpoint volunteers for our next race, the Twin Lobster on June 7. If you are able to help out, please email races@caara.net. If you know someone else who would like to get involved in amateur radio public service, please point them at the race support website, https://sites.google.com/view/caararaces.