1. WHAT NOT TO DO AT A PUBLIC SERVICE EVENT Photos by Tom, KE7TM Reality provided by Ed, K9EDK

2. Let’s paint the picture. London’s Run is a Half Marathon in Queen Creek.

3. Let’s paint the picture. London’s Run is a Half Marathon in Queen Creek. Much of the course was through the farm fields surrounding Schnepf Farms.

4. Let’s paint the picture. London’s Run is a Half Marathon in Queen Creek. Much of the course was through the farm fields surrounding Schnepf Farms. There was heavy rain during the weeks prior to the event.

5. Let’s paint the picture. London’s Run is a Half Marathon in Queen Creek. Much of the course was through the farm fields surrounding Schnepf Farms. There was heavy rain during the weeks prior to the event. The roads, if that’s what you call them, were narrow and most were pretty wet.

6. Let’s paint the picture. London’s Run is a Half Marathon in Queen Creek. Much of the course was through the farm fields surrounding Schnepf Farms. There was heavy rain during the weeks prior to the event. The roads, if that’s what you call them, were narrow and most were pretty wet. The Ham here (me) does not own a 4WD vehicle.

7. Let’s paint the picture. London’s Run is a Half Marathon in Queen Creek. Much of the course was through the farm fields surrounding Schnepf Farms. There was heavy rain during the weeks prior to the event. The roads, if that’s what you call them, were narrow and most were pretty wet. The Ham here (me) does not own a 4WD vehicle. Did I mention the heavy rains a week prior?

8. Let’s paint the picture. REMEMBER that I touched on the fact that there was rain a week prior to the event.

9. The long and narrow road. If Murphy’s laws ever prevailed, it was on this last weekend in January of 2010.

10. In the beginning. This was not the first time I got stuck on this day, but since there is no photographic evidence of anything happening before this picture, it must’ve never happened.

11. In the beginning. This was not the first time I got stuck on this day, but since there is no photographic evidence of anything happening before this picture, it must’ve never happened. WIDE VEHICLE

12. In the beginning. This was not the first time I got stuck on this day, but since there is no photographic evidence of anything happening before this picture, it must’ve never happened. NARROW ROAD

13. In the beginning. This was not the first time I got stuck on this day, but since there is no photographic evidence of anything happening before this picture, it must’ve never happened. NARROW -MINDED DRIVER

14. Let the fun begin The first to arrive to help was Gary, W7TXR.

15. Let the fun begin The first to arrive to help was Gary, W7TXR. We hooked the winch up and freed the Suburban. WOW! That was easy.

16. Let the fun begin The first to arrive to help was Gary, W7TXR. We hooked the winch up and freed the Suburban. WOW! That was easy. And then Murphy took over.

17. It’s all about Murphy now. As we pulled it backwards, the front end just kept sliding further and further from the road.

18. Can it really get any worse? …and further and further and further. Remember the rain we had just before the event? Did I mention that Murphy showed up?

19. Newly founded Lake Edward

20. Let’s try something new Let’s attach this come-along to the power pole and pull the truck sideways and back onto the road.

21. Let’s try something new Let’s attach this come-along to the power pole and pull the truck sideways and back onto the road. On second thought, let’s try something else.

22. Hey, look! Another Jeep

23. Instead of hooking up to the power pole, let’s try using the winch on this other Jeep.

24. It really was THAT BAD!

25. OOPS! No recovery hooks. Since the idiot didn’t buy a truck with recovery hooks, where should we attach the cable?

26. Slip sliding away, but not alone.

27. I didn’t think it could get worse. Remember, Murphy is now running the show. To keep the second Jeep from being pulled into the ditch, Jim’s truck was tied off to the Jeep… and then both were pulled towards the ditch

28. It’s crunch time! Do you know what you’re looking at now?

29. It’s crunch time! It won’t take you long to figure it out. This truck stopped.

30. It’s crunch time! I guess someone was busy watching what we were doing. This truck stopped. The Jeep didn’t stop

31. What comes next? About a half dozen cop cars and a BIG RED truck!

32. The long story gets shorter. After repositioning the second Jeep and pulling from a different angle, progress is finally made and the Suburban slowly makes it’s way back onto what is referred to by some as a road.

33. On the road again!

34. Who put that ditch there? After being successfully freed from the muddy grave on the right side of the road, Murphy wasn’t done with me just yet. See that ditch on the driver’s side? Let’s aim for that now.

35. Finally on the road for good. With a little guidance, I was able to drive in a straight line, something I thought I was capable of doing before. I guess I was wrong.

36. Safe at last. I can’t give enough praise to those who stuck with me (pun intended) and who helped get me back on solid ground. You’re all the very best…

37. THANK YOU! Paula, KD7TNB Gary, W7TXR

38. THANK YOU! Jim, N7QVW The other Jeep owner. I apologize for not remembering your name.

39. THANK YOU! The two volunteers from London’s Run who we later learned had been stuck several times in the previous week while setting up the course.

40. THANK YOU! At the very beginning someone said that if this were someone else stuck in the mud, that I would be out there taking pictures. But since it was me that was stuck, the camera never came out. Whoever said that was right, so in all fairness I handed my camera to Tom, KE7TM. Unfortunately, Tom was on the other side of the camera, so we don’t have a picture of him to show here. Thank you Tom for the great photos. ?

41. If you haven’t learned from my experience, you’d better keep looking over your shoulder because the guy in the grey Suburban is likely to be taking pictures of YOU!