so i joined my county ARES group about 6 months ago and ive been going to the monthly nets and did the IS-100 and IS-200 courses online like they asked. feels like ive been doing a lot of studying and not much actual radio work if that makes sense.

anyway there's a big marathon coming up in our area next month and the EC said this will probably be my first real activation. mostly just packet and voice relay between aid stations and the finish line from what i understand. im not super worried about the technical side but i guess i dont really know what to expect in terms of like... how the day actually goes? do you just sit at your assigned spot the whole time or is there more moving around, do they give you a briefing beforehand, that kind of thing.

also is it weird to bring a handheld as backup even if they assign you a post with a mobile rig? i have my trusty vx-8 and id feel better having it just in case

marathons are honestly one of the better first activations because theyre pretty low stress compared to something like a shelter deployment. you'll almost certainly get a briefing the morning of, usually the EC or a net control walks everyone through the frequencies, the ICS structure, check-in procedures, that kind of thing. bring a notepad and write it all down because youll be glad you did when youre standing in the sun three hours in trying to remember if its 146.52 or the repeater for medical relay.

as for staying put yeah mostly you're at your aid station the whole time, at least for a road race. the job is just being there and being reliable. honestly the hardest part is staying alert when traffic is light and nothing's happening for like 45 minutes at a stretch. and absolutely bring the handheld, nobody's going to think that's weird, half the experienced guys show up with three radios and a go bag. better to have it and not need it.

yeah what he said, just bring everything you think you might need and dont stress about looking overprepared. i was nervous my first one too and honestly it was kind of anticlimactic in a good way? like you realize pretty quick that a lot of ARES work is just... being a reliable presence. the hardest part for me early on was learning the proper prowords and not just talking like im on a casual ragchew. net control will appreciate it if you listen more than you talk until you get the rhythm of how they run it