so i finally got my general last spring and joined my county ARES group maybe two months ago. been going to the weekly nets and the monthly meetings but this weekend theres an actual activation for a local marathon event and my EC asked if i wanted to tag along and help out. i said yes obviously but now im kind of nervous about it.

like i know the basics, i can check in on a net, i can pass traffic, but an actual deployment feels different. theyre putting me at one of the water stations along the route with a HT and im supposed to relay runner counts and any medical calls back to net control. seems straightforward but i keep second guessing myself. what if i fumble the phonetic alphabet when it actually matters or i miss something important.

anyone done one of these marathon or race events before? any tips for a first timer? also not sure what to bring gear wise beyond the obvious radio stuff, like should i have a log book, do people even do paper logs at these things

oh man i remember my first one of these, it was a bike race and i was way more nervous than i needed to be. honestly marathon support is about as low pressure as activations get. most of what you'll be doing is calling in runner numbers and the occasional "all clear at station 4" type check in. medical calls are rare and when they do happen net control walks you through it, you're not making any decisions on your own.

bring a paper log for sure, just a notebook is fine, some people use actual ICS forms but for a community event like this nobody is going to expect that from a new member. pen, snacks, water, something to sit on if you'll be standing around for 3 hours. also make sure your HT is fully charged the night before and bring a spare battery or a battery pack just in case. the biggest thing is just listen before you transmit, get a feel for how net control is running things, and dont be afraid to ask for a repeat if you miss something. "say again" is always the right call over trying to guess.

you'll do great, and after it's over you'll wonder what you were worried about

yeah what he said. also id suggest getting to your station a bit early just so you can do a radio check with net control before things kick off. nothing worse than discovering your HT isnt hitting the repeater when the runners are already coming through. some of those marathon routes go through weird terrain and you might need to find a better spot to stand or think about whether a whip antenna upgrade would help.

the phonetic alphabet thing -- dont stress it. if you blank on one just say the letter, people will understand you, especially in a friendly local event like this. the ICS stuff and proper procedures matter more in a real disaster activation but for a race support gig everyone is pretty relaxed about it.