The California International Marathon (CIM) saw its 41st running this year. And Sacramento County ARES has been supporting this event for over a decade.

“Each year we have over 20 volunteers providing essential radio communication at every aid and medical station spread out along the course,” reported Jay Ballinger – N6SAC, Emergency Coordinator for Sacramento ARES. “The runners’ safety and welfare are our primary mission. And we provide the link for runner status and overall situational awareness to the event organizers.”

The radio operators are stationed side by side with the aid and medical tent personnel. They report lead runner positions, runners requiring aid and support, road closure status, and essential runner withdrawal information back to Race Control.

“The event safety coordinators, about 15 in all, can hear our radio traffic and quickly build that mental picture of the event,” reports Jay. “We are the fastest and most complete communication network for the event.”

Over 10,000 runners participate each year. Considered the #1 Qualifier for the Boston Marathon, the elite runners will finish the run in just over two hours, but the team commits to staying on station for the full eight hour event.

Sacramento ARES supports many running and biking distance events throughout the year, and all of that training leads up to this big event each December.

“The team does great,” Jay confirms. “This has all of the elements of an emergency activation – operators are given a tactical callsign, they are sent to remote locations, they must be self-reliant for several hours, they have reporting assignments, and they must integrate with a directed net. I could not be more proud with how well they performed.”