Duncans Run 2019 underway
WICEN Victoria was there again on Saturday 23rd March providing logistical and emergency communications for Duncan’s Run that in 2019 was a sell-out. Total competitors had more than doubled since the running of the 2018 event and with the Ultra Marathon (100kms) being held this year there was just under five hundred runners in total. For WICEN this meant being operational from Saturday morning as early as 5am until Sunday 1am the next day. Eight marshal points were manned with WICEN operators with voice and packet radio capability as well as AWI (WICEN HQ) at the main event area.
Chris Morley @ AWI
Night time operations @ Duncans Run 2019
WICEN provided a voice network across all marshal points as well as tracking every runner in the 21, 50 and 100km events. The topography across the Tara Bulga State Forest is challenging at the best of times with some stations sending packet direct to HQ while others needing the use of digi repeaters. Here are some stats below from the packet radio network WICEN operated for around 15 hours with no loss of data, which we call Trak.
. 100km run: about 70 runners through 11 checkpoints in total (8 physical checkpoints)
. 50km run: about 130 runners through 6 checkpoints
. 21 km run: about 230 runners through 3 checkpoints.
Overall there were about 495 runners (some on a 6km course WICEN didn’t track)
John Morrissey @ AWI
As john VK3ZRX points out there would be no way this would be possible using voice alone. The amount of traffic (runners times and bid numbers) could not have been managed that way. Trak is a very powerful tool developed by WICEN, Paul VK3YYF, that we use at many of the events we do annually.
Lachlan VK3LEL at his control point
Around 16 WICEN operators volunteered their time with many arriving as early as Friday for a two-night three-day deployment. With the Ultra Marathon back on this year’s calendar it extended the time many of the Marshal Points are operational. This means ensuring you have enough battery capacity to last the distance. Having spare capacity or work arounds is a must. Personally, I had a failed solar controller rendering my solar panels useless. However, I was able put another battery in parallel with ease ensuring no loss of station uptime. WICEN welcomes any battery company’s sponsorships
Finally, a note from John VK3ZRX. “Feedback from the runners was overwhelmingly positive, even glowing. They really liked the course and there were no complaints about the event, according to the Event Director, Travis McInnes. The organisers were extremely grateful for the assistance from WICEN, too”. For more about the event take a look at http://www.duncansrun.com.au/
