1st Annual WASH GeoFox Triathlon

Sunday September 16 was a beautiful day for the WASH club annual picnic held at the Harbor Grove pavilion at South Park. It was nice to see many spouses attending along with their children (Future Amateur Operators I hope!). After a brief business meeting and a bountiful assortment of culinary delights meant to please any palate the group was assembled for the “BIG” event – The first “WASH Annual GeoFox Triathlon”. And what is this you might say? Well let me expand.

One of the many aspects of being an Amateur Radio Operator, or “Ham” for short, is that of being ready and able to provide emergency communications when called upon. Being “able” covers a lot of ground but in most cases knowing how to use your radio, how to listen and take precise directions, how to confirm receipt of directions, and in some cases knowing how to locate positions via GPS coordinates when doing field work such as site inspections and reporting. The GeoFox Triathlon was meant to bundle practical exercises together in a fun way, provide some light-hearted competition, and permit not only Hams but their spouses, children and guest to participate.

This year the focus was on practicing elementary skills; Taking precise and specific directions, Participating in a net to relay precise information, Keeping transmissions short and to the point, Locating monuments using GPS coordinates, and locating the “Fox” (hidden radio transmitter) using radio direction finding (RDF) skills.

Three teams were formed: Fox 1, Fox 2, and Fox 3 – very unique names aren't they! Each team was charged with locating two hidden items via GPS coordinates, answering one first aid question, and locating one Fox. Of course it wasn't exactly that simple as the transmitters were disguised as other animals not a fox. All monuments and the fox were within a 2,500 foot area of home base (the food).

Competition was fierce as everyone had seen the massive trophy that was to be awarded to the winning team. Each team bolted from the starting line and the race was on. Within an hour we had a winner!

The 1 st Place Team for the event was “Fox 3” consisting of Ben, Maureen, Hannah, Stephen, and Seth Williams along with Gary Robbins. Fox 3 had an elapsed time of 56 minutes from start to finish. They found the first monument, a neck lanyard, in 14 minutes. With speed and precision they proceeded to track down the next monument, a Pirates key chain, deviously hidden in a Hawthorne bush. With two down and one to go – the dreaded first aid question was relayed over the airwaves – “What are the A, B, C's of first aid? Without any hesitation – Airway, Breathing, Circulation was screaming from the Net Control radio. And now their final challenge to find the fox as Net Control relayed the beacon frequency of their “Fox”. And they were also given their first clue “Mr. Ed”. With lightning speed Fox 3 dialed in the beacon frequency on their hand-held radio and off-to-the-races! Nineteen minutes later they found the…… “A horse is a horse of course of course” …… fox, which by now turned out to be a horse not a fox. Victory!

Fox 2 consisting of Sean, Darryn, and Lucas Sleeman along with Fred and Patsy Beighley claimed the second place spot with a respectable elapsed time of 78 minutes. Fox 2 located both monuments and also recovered their fox.

Fox 1 with Carol and Ritchie Danko assisted by Mike Lazaroff had a few “technical” difficulties during their valiant effort to overtake Fox 2. They were able to locate the first monument and needed a little “help” on the second monument – but the fox was very evasive and escaped capture.

Needless to say a “Good Time” was had by all.

In interviewing the teams after the event an interesting fact surfaced. “The men folk were very intense in fiddling with their radios and gadgets and GPS locators…… but it was the ladies in the teams that actually FOUND the items.”

And “That's the way it is” as Walter Cronkite would say…………….