On April 22nd, Howard County REACT provided parking and course communication services for the Retriever Color Run 5K. The race posed unique challenges for our team including a situation that involved directing participant vehicles to an adjacent school parking lot from where the actual race start/finish was... Triadelphia Ridge Middle School.
Howard County REACT Units 621 (Pardeep Bhatti) and 687 (David Perry) block access to one lot that was off limits to race participants
Howard County REACT Unit 694 (Josh Tievy) stands guard at the main intersection where the course first enters and last ends on public roads.
As mentioned before, our team also provided course communications support at critical areas along the course. Communications along the course were made possible my our mobile extendable mast and GMRS simplex setup on 687's vehicle.
Howard County REACT Units 687's (David Perry) mobile extendable mast setup located at the start/finish to allow instant communications between course organizers and HCR members.
During the race, only one minor issue came about with regards to a blind corner on the course causing concerns for the race organizers as it started to rain and conditions became slick. As such, our members volunteered to cover this spot and slow down oncoming traffic (from the shoulder) until the race concluded.
Howard County REACT Unit 685 (Mark Thornton) checks in from his post along the course
All in all, this event was a great success and it allowed us to fine tune our team's effectiveness for future events. We would also like to a extent a big thank you to the event organizers for inviting us to help!