Recently, the Smith County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) teamed up with the Upper Cumberland Neighborhood Amateur Radio Club to support the Run 4 Don event in Gainesboro. This event honors Donald Chaffin and raises funds for students pursuing a Christian education as well as for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) research in hopes of finding a cure for Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Invited by event president and Smith County attorney Jeremy Hassler, the Smith County ARES group set up safety checkpoints along the 15K and 5K race routes. This collaboration served as both a training exercise and an opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of amateur radio communication, which operates independently of traditional infrastructure like cellular networks or radio repeaters. The team established a primary communication hub, known as net operations, where its ten members provided race updates and reported incidents, including one unexpected encounter—a copperhead snake basking in the sun along the 15K route. Fortunately, the snake was safely encouraged back into the woods by the runners.
Race organizers and local law enforcement expressed their gratitude to ARES for ensuring the safety of the participants, and many runners also thanked the members for their presence and support.
Smith County ARES consists of licensed amateur radio operators dedicated to assisting during emergencies, using events like this to hone their communication and deployment skills. The Smith County Amateur Radio Club meets monthly at the Smith County Chamber of Commerce building and offers a great starting point for anyone interested in learning about amateur radio and obtaining their license. They will hold a free licensing class on October 19th. For more information, visit their Facebook page or check this paper.
