On May 5th, 2024, I had the opportunity to see the result of a project that I was a part of when I was still interning at Hoyle Tanner, not as a spectator but as a participant. That would be the Revel Race Series White Mountain Road Race along NH 113 (Kancamagus Highway) in northern New Hampshire. As an intern, I was a part of the team that designed the traffic control for race day and eventually was one of the runners going through it. It was a unique position as I was able to observe any differences on race day to what was planned, either due to coordination differences or resource availability while pursuing my goal of finishing the half-marathon in under two hours (official time was 1:56:19)!
My Role in the Traffic Control Design
The client sent us what they envisioned traffic control would look like; up to nine “passing zones” along the course that would allow opposing traffic to pass around each other. My initial task was to confirm that the proposed locations of the passing zones would work, were adequately spaced, and had enough pavement width to fit two lanes of traffic and a dedicated runner’s lane. This involved a lot of measuring in Google Earth and a large spreadsheet to keep track of data such as pavement width and the number of driveway/sideroad intersections throughout the course.
My other effort was in CAD, laying out these passing zones in accordance with NHDOT traffic control standards. I was also part of a discussion on how to manage traffic at the intersection of NH 16 (White Mountain Highway) and NH Route 113 (Kancamagus Highway) – the only major intersection along the course. This was challenging due to the uncertainty in the volume of traffic we could expect to see on race day.
Things I Learned & Things that Excited Me
When this project came in, I was still interning at Hoyle Tanner. For me it was an opportunity to be involved in work that we don’t see every day. My internship was all about exposure to different elements in highway design and traffic control was something that I was a part of on and off throughout. This was in that same realm but still on a different level. It was exciting to think about people running through layouts that I drew up, and traffic operating on a schedule that I saw planned from the start. Signing up for the race excited me even more because I would be able to see the work that I had done in action. Another exciting thing was to see Todd Clark there, both observing how things operated and cheering me on as I went past.
Why I Signed up to Race
Well, I didn’t want to at first. It was a cool experience to be part of the design team, but at the time I was not interested in running. Something about having to drive up to northern New Hampshire for a 13-mile race at 6 am on Sunday didn’t sound appealing to me.
A friend ended up finding it by chance over social media and asked if I wanted to sign up for it. At this point I hadn’t really told anyone that I had seen the planning of this race from the start, so I was surprised to see someone else mention it. Once I did tell him, my reluctance was overruled – we were signed up that night, and I was forced to start training.
The Differences Between Designing & Participating
Running it was a pleasant experience; the weather was good and the vibes were high even at 1:30 am when we woke up. It’s a lot different being on the ground and passing through what I have seen from above on a computer screen. I was able to point out different landmarks that I used to confirm locations of the passing zones, and I was able to tell what was different from our initial design.
A Few Things Surprised Me
What surprised me the most was the amount of people! Almost 4,000 runners signed up between the half-marathon and the full marathon, much more than we anticipated. You would think that there would not be too many interested in a road race at the crack of dawn in chilly weather, but the turnout was incredible! Not only that, but the atmosphere was electric with tons of energy on the shuttles to the start lines and afterwards at the expo.
Although leading up to the race I was nervous and not thrilled with the idea of having to wake up at 1:30 am to get to the start line, I have no regrets. It was very exciting to see the product of work that I was directly a part of producing. The weather was perfect for a race, and the feeling of crossing the finish line and reaching my time goal was an amazing feeling. Read more about our traffic services and reach out to me if you have any questions!
