November has certainly been a busy month for Howard County REACT. Starting with the Veteran's Day Parade in Columbia, Maryland, our team was tasked with traffic control operations to keep vehicle traffic out of the staging area while parade participants gathered and lined up for the parade. Once the parade concluded, our team also assisted with sweeping the parade route to ensure the route was clear before regular traffic was allowed. While this was the first year for our team assisting with this event, it went rather smoothly and there were no issues to speak of.
HCR member, Mark Thornton (behind camera) directs traffic away from the staging area.
Our second event of the month was the Zaching Running Festival 10K. This race was founded to benefit the Zaching Against Cancer Foundation. The race is named after University of Maryland freshman and basketball manager Zachary Lederer. After undergoing surgery for brain cancer for the second time in his young life, Zach asked his father to take a photo of him doing a strongman pose, which after being posted online went viral very quickly. The pose was later referred to as "Zaching" against cancer.
Team responsibilities included monitoring several areas of the course that ran along public roads to ensure safety of participants. While the weather was a little brisk, this event went smoothly as well.
A Turkey Trot 5K volunteer assists HCR member David Perry (behind camera) in directing vehicle traffic and participants at one of the busier intersections.
Our third event of the month was the Turkey Trot 5k in Laurel, Maryland. Occurring on Thanksgiving morning, this event kept our team on our toes. With the course crossing several busy public roads, our team presence was certainly warranted. With the assistance of Laurel Police at these busy intersections, we were able to ensure participant safety at this event as well!
HCR Junior member Anthony assists with directing Turkey Trot participants.