Zone 1: Lindsay Webb 540-521-9298
Aid Station #1 (North Market), #2 (Hope Tree)

Zone 2: Matt Bullington 540-798-4265
Aid Station #3 (Vistar)

Zone 3: Leigh Stover 540-392-2026
Aid Station #4 (Andrew Lewis), #5 (YMCA)

Floaters: Eric O'Brien 540-529-2230(Zone 2/3),  Skip Huffman (Zone 1) 540-400-4854

We will have all of the supplies delivered to your aid station location very early on Saturday.  
Please park all vehicles in the designated parking area for your station. 

WHEN YOU ARRIVE
Please go through the following checklist and notify your zone captain if anything is amiss:

• Check your inventory against the list- is everything here?
• Are Port-a-Jons here and upright?
• Do you understand where the runners will be coming from and going to?
• Are any course markings worn off or needed?
• Do you have enough people to help (did everyone show up?)?
• Do you have a designated course marshal and instructions for him/her?

SET UP 
Please set up the tables SPACED OUT in a line along the race course according to your diagram.  You should have coolers, cups, containers of Gatorade, and gels (Andrew Lewis only).

Fill all of the coolers making sure you have one extra cooler of Gatorade mixture, as that takes a little longer to make.  Keep the coolers on the ground and take the tops off.  Now it’s time to fill the cups.  There are two different types of cups: WHITE cups for water, and GREEN cups for the Gatorade.  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ONLY PUT WATER IN THE WHITE CUPS AND Gatorade IN THE GREEN CUPS.  Dunk the cups into the tops of the coolers and fill them only 1/2 full.  Any more than that and the racers will just splash the fluid all over themselves.  This method is much, much faster for filling cups and will be helpful when the largest crush of racers are coming by.

GREEN Gatorade cups should be on the first table(s), then white water cups on the second table(s), and for those stations that have food, the food should be on the last table. 
 
WHEN USING A HOSE 
Only use the White hoses provided by us. They are drinking water hoses and we know they've never had chemicals like weed killer or fertilizer in them. Please run the water for 1-2 minutes to “flush” the hose prior to filling the coolers.  

DURING THE RACE 
Fill the tables with cups that are half full with water or Gatorade. Remember, Gatorade in the GREEN cups on the first table(s), and water in the white cups on the second table(s). When the runners come by, stand next to the table and hold out cups for the runners using the two-finger method or the flat hand method. Call out what you are distributing- Gatorade or Water.

Designate one person that is focused on collecting trash. At the busiest food stations you may need 2 volunteers. There will be bags to collect the cups and waste at all aid stations. Since few people like dealing with trash, please switch off volunteers in this job periodically. When picking up the cups, It's best to dump any left over fluid and stack the cups.  That makes it easier to fill the trash bags.  There will be one trash can at each aid station and lots of trash bags. Place the can a few yards beyond the aid station for runners to toss their cups in. Most will miss, but it keeps the cups in a general area.

Refill the coolers, fill more cups, place the fluid filled cups out for the racers, clean up the mess and cheer everyone on.  Repeat.

A note about sanitation:  We are providing gloves for your use.  Please wear them when mixing Gatorade, and handling cups.  They are also very useful for picking up trash so hands don’t get too sticky with Gatorade & gel.  However, once you start picking up trash, change gloves before handing out cups again. 

CLEAN UP 
The last racer will be followed by one or two sweepers on bikes or on foot.  Please give them a warm welcome. Take any course marshal flags from the sweepers and store them with the aid station gear. Once the sweep bicycle(s) come through, please clean up your station. As you can imagine, there is a lot of clean-up after a big event like this, so everything you can do to help us out is appreciated.  Please do the following:

• Clean off tables with a rag & leftover water from a cooler.
• Rinse any Gatorade coolers with water from the water coolers. Use your hose.
• Break down the tables
• Put all the trash bags together
• Load everything in the staff truck when the zone captain gets to your station.

Each aid station will be assigned a hand-held radio. Use of the radios is for official race business only and channels are monitored by authorities. Please assign one responsible person to man the radio. This person can do all the other stuff too, but should also be the one to keep track of any radio communications that apply to your aid station. 

RADIO 101:

Radio batteries last a long time when you are listening, but transmitting drains the batteries quicker.  Therefore, only transmit when needed.

Whenever you need to transmit, press the talk button, pause for 1-2 seconds, then identify yourself by your aid station location (i.e. "Star to HQ") then release the talk button to wait for a response. The pause is necessary so the first part of your sentence doesn’t get cut off and allows for the radio repeater to pick up and transmit. Please refer to yourself as the aid station name.

Here’s some basic terminology:
BREAK        Emergency. (WHEN THIS IS SAID, THERE MUST BE RADIO SILENCE.) 
REPEAT     
COPY             I understood. 
STAND BY         Wait for another transmission.
NEGATIVE         No. 
AFFIRMATIVE     Yes/go ahead 
CLEAR         All OK. 
STATUS         Request for description of injury or physical damage. 
SAY AGAIN        Repeat. 
CORRECTION     I made an error. 
MORE TO FOLLOW If your transmission is complicated & you need to say many words 

If there is a medical emergency at your station:

1. If there is other transmission taking place, cut in when you can with a slow “BREAK, BREAK, BREAK”
2. Call to HQ: “X Aid Station to HQ”
3. When you get a response, describe the situation/answer questions.
4. DO NOT use the term “runner down” or anything of the like unless you have an unresponsive (unconscious) runner.  
5. When the situation is resolved, or medical traffic is taken onto other channels, HQ will announce when you can resume normal radio traffic.

Priority of radio traffic:

1. Medical emergencies
2. Supply emergencies
3. 1st Full or Half runner(s) through your stop.
4. Sweep vehicle through your stop
5. Check-in with HQ on setup

Times when you should use the radios: 

1. When you first get your radio and your station is set up, ready to go, please call into HQ to test radio communications to see if we can hear you and vice versa.
2. Report to headquarters (HQ) when the first runners pass by your station. 
3. Report to headquarters (HQ) when last runner and sweepers pass your station. 
4. Call for medical assistance. There will be medical personnel at almost all aid stations, but if it is something that requires more than what they can handle, they will need to call for assistance.  Medical personnel and the designated radio person should be the only people using the radio.
5. Call your zone captain for resupply if needed.

If your radios do not work and you have cell coverage, don't hesitate to call HQ. Moe Huffman will be the main person handling the race communications, and her cell phone number is 540-588-3470.   If there is a medical emergency that you are not able to use the radio for, you can call 911, but tell the dispatcher that you are with the Salem Half Marathon so they know which ambulance to contact. 911 dispatch is aware of the race and our communications. 

Phone numbers you may need: (Please use radios first- use phone if radios are not working at all).
Moe Huffman - HQ:  540-588-3470
Your Zone Captain: (see above)
Molly Bullington - Race Director 540-798-8495

Link to published Inclement Weather Policies on Salem Half Marathon site.

Aid Station Instructions for Black Flag:
In the event of a weather emergency, natural disaster, or other emergency situation, a shelter in place may be issued and/or the course may be shut down by race management.  If this happens, an announcement will be made over the radios, and HQ may ask each aid station to confirm that they heard the announcement.  In the event of a shelter in place:

1. Display Black "Course Closed" flag with Event Alert System Sign. You may need to fold up tent in the event of high winds or heavy rain- in this case secure flag to a vehicle parked at the aid station and display sign on windshield.
2. Minimize loose aid station materials in the event of heavy rain/high winds.
3. Have all volunteers shelter in vehicles or other designated shelter area.
4. When runners arrive at your aid station, tell them the following:
   1. A Shelter in Place has been issued; take shelter in the designated shelter location.
   2. If they decide to continue on the course, they do so AT THEIR OWN RISK; there will not be course marshals in place telling them where to go.
   3. Once the threat has cleared, the shelter in place will be lifted and they can continue at that time.

In the event of a course closure:

1. Display Black "Course Closed" flag on a vehicle parked at the aid station with Event Alert System Sign secured to windshield.
2. Break down the aid station- fold up the tent, clean up the trash, and fold up tables.  In the event of high winds, place tables on top of trash bags and other loose items to prevent them from blowing away.
3. Volunteer course marshals are asked to shelter in their cars;
4. Aid station volunteers are asked to shelter in their cars;
5. When runners arrive at your aid station, tell them the following:
   1. the course is shut down, 
   2. they may take shelter at the aid station to await pickup by a bus
6. Buses will be deployed along the race route to pick up runners.  Once a bus gets to your aid station and picks up all runners, please radio to your zone captain that all runners are picked up and request the zone captain to come get your radio. If possible, please wait with the aid station materials until the zone captain or other race official gets to your aid station.