A Group Effort: The Pros and Cons of Crewing and Pacing for Ultras

I almost crewed, maybe in the future; from Running Times online…

A Group Effort: The Pros and Cons of Crewing and Pacing for Ultras

Tips and best practices for both runners and support members

By Ian Torrence

As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine

In 1999, at the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile Run’s Gap Creek aid station, my mother, my biggest fan and supporter, handed me a peanut butter and jelly bagel.  According to my race plan, I was supposed to eat the whole thing there, but I couldn’t stomach it, so I took half and ate it as I ran. It sat well and filled an energy void. Over the next few miles, I began to crave the second half. My mind and heart became fixated on it.  Roughly 10 miles later, at the visitor center aid station and nearly 50 miles into the race, I asked my mom for the second half. She stared at me blankly and announced that she had eaten it because she was hungry. I stomped off down the trail fueled by anger rather than the second half of the bagel.

Today, we both look back on this incident and laugh. My mother would continue to crew for me for years to come and now, with some pre-race planning and levelheaded thinking, we both know how to avoid such race-day mishaps.

Read on here.