Crewing an Ultra

Having a crew to support you on an ultra can make a huge difference. This list of tips comes from my personal experiences, and observing other runners in ultras. The value of a good crew goes up proportionally with distance, so they are most important in 100 mile races.

• If possible, have experienced ultrarunners on your crew. They understand better what you will need and when, they can empathize better, and most importantly they won't freak out in horror at what you're going through.
• Having people who love you act as your crew is a mixed blessing. On the positive side, you will look forward to seeing them, which provides motivation, and their genuine care for you can be uplifting. The sight and touch of your loved ones is also a powerful pain killer. The downside is that an ultra can be brutal, and having your loved ones see you suffering so badly is hard on them.
• Make sure your crew understands that the act of crewing is a tough challenge in itself. It may involve going without sleep, hanging around for hours in uncomfortable conditions, being too hot, too cold, driving vast distances and putting up with a runner whose personality is radically different from what they expect.
• Whatever crew you have, spend time with them preparing for the race well ahead of time. Discuss the types of things you are likely to need at each aid station, agree which members of the crew will focus on particular activities, etc. Plan for contingencies, such as wet weather, unusual heat or cold, blisters, nausea, etc.
• Near the race time, make sure your crew knows all of your gear. They should be able to quickly find anything you need in well organized bags. (Ziploc bags are great for organizing gear.) It's also important for your crew to know what terms you use for your gear, such as "the white fleece neck thingy".
• Make sure your crew look after themselves. Crewing an ultra is itself an endurance challenge, so the crew must have time to rest and eat. It's easy for a crew to forget their own needs when they are focused on their runner. If the crew has to do extensive driving, this can be a dangerous situation, so use common sense.
• Actually use your crew; don't spend time rummaging in bags to find gear when your crew could be doing it.
• If you have both a crew and pacers, an effective option is to have one of your pacers go ahead to the aid station to let the rest of the crew know what you need ahead of time.
• Multitask your crew, so that one person it getting you food, another is refilling your bottle, another is finding warm clothes, etc. Assigning responsibilities ahead of time makes this much easier.
• Your crew and pacers should monitor your mental state and understand the warning signs. Simple things like raising your blood sugar with some gel may help bring you back to reality, but they also need to watch out for hydration problems, especially hyponatremia. Heat related illness (Hypothermia, heat stroke) can also be seen in an altered mental status. If you crew is inexperienced, make sure they know to ask for advice from the aid station volunteers, as many of them are experienced ultrarunners.
• Agree with your crew the situations you think would cause you to drop from the race. It will help them to know when to push you and when to encourage you to drop.
• Giving your crew a written checklist may be useful. This checklist will prevent important activities being missed, as things can become confused and rushed. I would recommend reading the book The Checklist Manifesto.