Volunteer Guide

Thank you for volunteering for the 2024 Baker UltraChallenge. We have 119 solo runners registered and 11 relay teams running 8-12 mile legs.

There will be an optional volunteer meeting at the Smicksburg farm Friday night August 23rd at 8:00PM (see directions below). We will be discussing checkpoint operations, search and rescue teams, and first aid. If you can't attend, simply show up at your aid station and check in with your Supervisor. The logistics truck will deliver all needed gear and supplies, including your volunteer shirt.

Aid Station (AS): These odd-numbered stations provide nutrition and hydration but no chip scanning. You will have a list of participants and you'll check off each runner as they pass through. The runners do not have to stop at aid stations. Runners arriving after the closing time cannot be pulled from the race, but the next station needs to be notified.

Checkpoint (CP): These even-numbered stations are the same as Aid Stations but they also scan each runner's chip upon arrival and serve as a relay exchange point. An arriving relay team member will end and another will begin at these stations. All runners must have a time recorded at each station in order to be an official finisher. Any runner arriving after the closing time cannot continue unless it is by (a) less than 30 minutes and (b) their first time missing a cutoff and (c) it is prior to AS8 (all three conditions must be true, see Rules link in #5 below).

Please arrive at your station 15 minutes before scheduled opening to help set up.

Consider bringing rain gear, a chair, and food. You are welcome to the "runner food" at the station, but you may want something more substantial.

1. Check in with your Supervisor upon arrival.
2. Wear provided volunteer shirt.
3. Affix provided name tag (extras are in your supply box).
4. Know what’s in your first aid kit and supply box. If a runner asks for something, you probably have it.
5. Familiarize yourself with the information participants need to know, including the race rules. For 2024 that page is here.
6. Mix 3 gallons of Gatorade. Fill the 5 gallon orange drink cooler to just below the 2.5 gallon mark (interior plastic liner has level indicators for liters and gallons). Add the proportionate amount of Gatorade powder according to the directions to ensure it's not diluted. Stir with ladle.
7. Fill the other drink cooler with water to the 3 gallon mark, then add ice.
8. Label orange drink coolers with “Gatorade” and “Water” signs from kit.
9. Post the provided station distance sign. Advise runners on distance to the next station so they know what nutrition they’ll need.
10. Set up one trash bag holder at station, another one 50’-100’ farther along course.
11. Set out bin with sport gels.
12. Set out bins with other provided snacks.
13. Make PB&J sandwiches, divide into quarters, place into bin.
14. Cut fruit into pieces, place in separate bins. Use a different knife than the one used for the peanut butter.
15. Set out 5 cups each of water, Gatorade, Coke, and Mt. Dew, replace as needed.
16. Open can of potatoes, drain, and place some in a bin and set next to salt shaker.
17. Refill runner's bottle(s)/hydration pack while they get food.
18. Remind runners to discard any trash they may be carrying.
19. This is a race, so please help keep the runners moving; don't delay them unnecessarily.
20. Don't give directions to runners. Properly navigating the course is a critical part of the race.
21. If you're leaving a Checkpoint and headed to the finish, please bring any used runner drop bags with you.
22. Radio operators:
    1. At station open, request from Net all known no-shows and dropouts and cross these off the provided Participant roster.
    2. Check off arriving runners on the Participant roster. Be attentive; sometimes runners don't stop at the aid station. Relay legs start/end only at Checkpoints, so at those stations circle the name of the departing team member. NOTE! A Solo runner may also be a Relay team member and will have two bibs. Be sure to check off both bib numbers.
    3. If a runner drops out, collect their tag and advise Net.
    4. At Checkpoints, collect the tag of relay team members who are finishing at your station. Advise Net of departing runner tag number.
    5. Cross off all dropouts on roster.
    6. Upon station close, ensure all runners listed on roster are checked or crossed out. Advise Net accordingly.
23. Recorders (only at Checkpoints):
    1. Post “Scan Here” sign(s).
    2. Turn on the computer, and once it boots double-click the Pathfinder icon on the desktop.
    3. Choose your Checkpoint from the list and click Set Station.
    4. When a runner arrives, touch the scanner (circuit board side) to the runner’s tag. NOTE! Some Solo runners are also Relay team members and will have two tags. Be sure to scan both tags, and collect the Relay tag if their relay leg is finished. (if a relay team member is running multiple legs, simply scan their chip once upon arrival as you would a Solo runner.)
    5. The computer will announce the tag number of each scanned arrival. Ensure you hear the number of the tag so you know it was properly captured.
    6. The Arrivals pane shows who has been scanned (arrived) at your station.
    7. Do not scan the departing relay team member until the arriving team member is scanned.
    8. If the computer isn't working, please use the notebook and pen in the station kit to record the number and arrival time of the runner using the time on your cell phone.
    9. Collect the tag of relay team members who are not continuing after your station.
    10. If the scanner isn’t working, manually enter the runner’s tag number as they arrive. Click in the Manual Entry field or press Alt-M to put the cursor there. Just type in the tag number and hit enter, one after another.
    11. If a runner drops out, collect their tag and enter the tag number in the Search field to locate their arrival scan. Double-click their name and fill in their Drop Location (the place they left the course, most often the name of your checkpoint), then enter the disposition of their tag and click Close.
    12. If a runner loses their tag, enter the number manually as described above to record their arrival.
    13. If you need to adjust an arrival time, double-click on the time to edit it.
    14. If you manually entered an incorrect tag number or scanned a tag accidentally, right-click on the arrival row and choose Delete. Be careful to delete the proper entry!
    15. Upon Checkpoint close, press the power button on the laptop to initiate a proper shutdown. All information is automatically saved.

Closing the Station

Once you're certain all the runners have come through your station, you can close. The logistics truck will arrive and help tear down and also take all remaining supplies, food and first aid kits to another aid station. If you can move food or supplies, please let Logistics or the Facilitator know.

If a runner has not come through your station, the Supervisor cannot leave. The search protocol described below will be followed.

Search teams

We will have at least one search team on standby that will mobilize only if needed. The 3-person team should have and share cell phone numbers.

Facilitator Patty will provide a daypack containing first aid, Gatorade, water, salty snack food and detailed maps of the area to the lead/driver of the team.

Search team protocol

1. All aid stations have lists of runners to check off. Near the station closing time, they will alert if someone is missing, with a possibility that they just missed checking them off. The search team is put on standby and will begin to plan a search strategy from the last known station that runner cleared looking at the runner’s start time and pace through previous stations.
2. The next station is alerted to a possible missing person. If that person does not come through the station the search team will start a search first by calling the runner on their cell phone. Some runners carry a phone, others do not.
3. A driver, who is lead, will take two hikers, determine where the runner may have gotten off course and set a strategy and drop the hikers at the last known sighting of the missing person and pick the hikers back up at a designated point. The driver will look at the maps and make educated guesses as to where the missing person may have gone off track and search those road areas while waiting for his team to come back or meet at the designated spot.
4. The Lead/driver should keep in communication back to Facilitator Patty or Director Steve. We will relay information back to the driver as we receive it. If needed a second team will start a search in a different area.

If you are interested in volunteering to be on a search team, please let Facilitator Patty know as soon as possible.

Directions

The Smicksburg farm finish: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1145+Barnard+Road,+Smicksburg,+PA

All are welcome to camp Friday and Saturday night. Owners Rebecca and Hisham are wonderful hosts!

There is a picnic at the finish starting at noon, so when you checkpoint closes be sure to come have lunch and cheer the runners home!

Driving directions from Pittsburgh to the Farm:

1. Take PA 28N to US422E toward Kittanning/Indiana.
2. Continue to follow PA 28N approximately 5.4 miles
3. You will come to a traffic light at the Junction of Rt. 28N and Rt. PA85. Make a RIGHT onto PA 85.
4. Continue approximately 12.7 miles to PA 839. Turn LEFT onto PA 839.
5. Continue approximately 2.3 miles to Barnard Road and bear a RIGHT.
6. Approximately 3.4 miles you will see a small wooden structure from the road with a barn back to the end of the property and a house behind the barn.