The Freedom Firecracker 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run

The Ole Virginia Hams once again provided support for a 4th of July “Mini-Tri” marathon for Prince William County, led by Wayne, N7QLK, code named “Shadow”.  As with most of our Mini-Tri’s, this was held at The Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center, in Manassas, VA.

Officially titled The Freedom Firecracker 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run, the race was started about 8:30 AM & had about 200 participants. The runners went first, followed by the walkers about 10 minutes later. It was a very colorful event. If you look closely at the photos, while running attire was the norm, tutus (with and without deely bobbers) and patriotic garb were also quite popular.

Complementing race officials, we also had a Course Marshal on a bicycle assisting us.

At this time, we would like to recognize the following people for their support:
Wayne, N7QLK; Al, KB4BHB; John, KG4NXT; Don, WA2SWX  & yours truly, KN4DD

We were all in position by 8 AM, 3 fixed positions and one roamer with the race coordinator. As is our custom, we were operating simplex on 147.525 with our 146.970 repeater as our alternate.

It was a great day for a race, weather wise. While the day’s temperature got to 89, it was cool in the morning with a dew point of about 56.5°.

We met @ the Swim Parking Lot @ 7:15 AM for coffee, donuts and of course to review our assignments from Shadow (Wayne). Prince William’s Finest closed down the roads @ 8:20 AM.

The 5K race started about 8:30 AM on the 4th & finished about 9:30 AM. All without incident.

 

A lot of different running garb
A lot of different running garb

 

Firecracker 5K racers
Firecracker 5K racers
Another kind of rush hour
Another kind of rush hour

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firecracker 5K 2022
Firecracker 5K 2022
2 Tuttus with deely bobbers
2 Tuttus with deely bobbers

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