2020 Salt Flats Endurance Run
When:Fri, May 1, 2020, 6:30am – Sat, May 2, 2020, 7:30pm
Where: Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway, Bonneville Speedway Road, Wendover, UT 84083, USA (map)
Current Station Needs as of 01/03/2020
- A3 = Need Operators (x2)
- A4 = Need Operators (x2) Must Have 4×4 Vehicle or UTV to access the station
- A5/7 = Need Operators (x2) This station serves for both Aid #5 and Aid #7
- A8 = Need Operators (x2)
- A9 = Need Operators (x2)
- A10 = Need Operators (x2)
- A14 = Need Operators (x2)
- Net = Need Operators (x8) Net Control Operators will be responsible to provide their own command post
Description:
Welcome to the Salt Flats Endurance Run or as we like to call it SFER. This event is actually 3 separate courses operating during the event.
The courses all start at the Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway at 0700hrs, and run the same section of Salt Flats that the land-speed records are set each year at “Speed week”. After 13 miles of salt and three miles of mud-flats, the runners connect up with the “Islands”, mountain peaks that rise out of the salt and seem to float like islands on a white sea. 50k runners will run out the flats to the “No Post” Aid Station at 15.5 miles, and then reverse the course for an exact 50k. 50 Mile and 100 Mile runners will run along rolling hills and connect two and four significant climbs respectively along the remainder of the course, and the 100 milers will even cross into Nevada where the Donner-Reed Party left Utah on their way to their fateful encounter with the harsh Sierra Nevada Mountains. All three courses finish back at the start.
This event presents a unique opportunity for Ham Radio Operators to “Stress Test” their equipment in one of the harshest environments known to man.The weather at this time of year can be everything from sunny and low 80’s to blowing snow and low 20’s. The salt desert is a unique environment, and wind is generally a constant. As a result, if the winds are high, the aid stations may not have shade canopies as you’ll find in many of the other 100’s. Plan accordingly.
This is a 36 hour event that requires the use of high power (minimum 25 watts) VHF/UHF Amateur Radio voice operations. It also allows you as an operator to experiment with some of your own “Home Brew” inventions as communications back to Net Control can sometimes become a challenge all on its own.
One example of this is one operators that has staffed this event from the beginning has discovered that using a remote cross band repeater, allows the operator to gain access to one of the mountain top repeaters while being at the aid station that is tucked inside of a cove. Another operator has found that using 2 remote base units allows the operator to use a handheld at the aid station and then uses the high power remote base to transmit to Net Control. The options are truly endless and this event is always throwing different situations that get to be solved.
We have 14 Aid stations and 8 Net Control slots that need Ham Radio Support. Not all positions are for the full 36 hours of the event. So making this into a day trip or a weekend event is possible.
We encourage EARLY SIGNUP as most of the station assignments fill up quite quickly. If you would like to volunteer to assist with this event please send an e-Mail to UTTHREAT@Gmail.com They will then communicate directly with you to confirm and assign you to an Aid Station for the event. Volunteer before February 1st to reserve your official race shirt!!!!!
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