Once again we had the opportunity to provide aerial coverage for a sporting event, this time out in Big Bend Ranch State Park for the 2023 Big Bend Ultra Marathon. Carroll Voss with Overland Racing has been organizing this race for about 19 years, originally inside the Big Bend National Park, and now inside the State Park. It raises funds and awareness for the Friends of Big Bend Ranch State Park and attracts hundreds of seasoned runners from all over the country.
This year, we were the only commercial drone pilot authorized to fly inside the state park, so we managed to get around to more locations than usual. We covered the starts for the 10K / 20K / 30K / 50K and 80K races at the Barton Warnock Visitors Center. We interviewed the Ham Radio Net Control crew and took a tour of the visitor center. We drove out into the desert and could only reach 3 of the 5 aid stations by vehicle due to the rough terrain and travel limitations.
Here is the playlist of videos from this year’s event.
