CHAPTER XX

Someone to hold you up

This chapter is for the runners support crew, those brave people who are there to help
the runner at the start of the race, give them what they need at checkpoints, then be
there at the end to piece them back together again. This can be a physically and
emotionally draining role that should really only be bestowed upon a blood relative or
someone who is sleeping with you. At worst, the role could go to someone who wants to
marry into your family, or someone who really need you as a referee for a job or to help
their immigration. But someone who youre pretty sure wants to sleep with you might
work, too.
At its best, the support role makes for an adventurous weekend that will either get your
crew more excited about running or put them off it for life. Ideally, however, your support
crew should have the patience of a saint and still be willing to talk to you after the very
real prospect that you may attempt to bite their head off.
In a nutshell, the responsibilities of your support crew can be summed up in one
sentence:
Follow instructions and dont let you do anything stupid.

Use this guide to help prepare your crew.

Its all up to you, not them

Your support crew will only be as good as youve prepared them to be. Dont expect
them to be mind-readers or experts in your sport. Provide them with instructions on how
to get to each place you want them to be (start line, checkpoints, finish) and give them
the earliest realistic projected times that you will be at each point. On race day, text your
support crew when you are 5km from each checkpoint. You can prepare these texts
ahead of time so that you can send them with a couple pushes of a button. Do this even

if the event has live tracking on the internet, as there may be a delay and this relies on
your support having internet access.
Provide a checklist of what you want your support crew to do and bring to you at every
stage of the race. Make it as easy as possible for them. For example, have a clearly
labelled bag for each checkpoint. In each bag, have the drinks, food, clothes, etc. that
you think you might need for that checkpoint. Also have a bag with provisions that you
might need at any or every checkpoint, such as blankets or ice, first aid kit, tape,
sunscreen, towel, power bank (to charge up a watch or phone), etc.

[BREAKOUT BOX]
What Youve Heard:
You shouldnt need a support crew
There are two aspects to the support crew. The first is that they help ensure your
safety (are you eating and drinking correctly, are you properly equipped, are you
injured, making safe decisions, etc.) and in any sport, its dumb to turn away
safety features unless you are very experienced. The second aspect is the moral
and emotional support that, for all your physical training, can make all the
difference between stopping a race and kicking on to the finish line. Still, some
people have reasons to go it alone, and most ultras will transport runners drop
bags (pre-packed with food, drinks, equipment, clothes) to checkpoints for runners
who have no support crew:
If my wife and family were at a race being my support crew, in the back of
my mind Id probably be always thinking, Are they having a good time? Are
they bored and cold? Is my wife getting tired and cranky because the kids are
acting out?
Jeff Duncan ultra-runner

Ill have everything I need in my bags, and I dont expect to get anything

from anywhere else. If you cant look after yourself, you cant expect
someone else to do it for you.
Jane Trumper

For most people, a support crew can make all the difference:
You actually can put someone back together. Having my wife as support
crew at my first TNF 100 was the only reason that I finished, because I would
have pulled out at checkpoint 4.
Adam Connor
[ENDS]

Be honest about your expectations

If the support doesnt train with you, then they will need an honest assessment of your
expectations of the event. This means letting them know if you think you will struggle
with the distance or conditions, where you think you might slow down, how long you
expect to stay at checkpoints and what your odds are of finishing the event. On race
day, this will help them assess if you are having problems or if things are as good as
can be expected.

Dont lie
Many kilometres into your ultra, you will already be possibly the most disgusting version
of yourself that your support crew has ever seen smelly, filthy, dishevelled, tired,
crabby, and really not good at all at listening to them or appreciating their needs. Dont
make it worse by lying to them. Answer all your support crews questions honestly and
offer up any information that might be important, no matter how bad, weak or dumb it
may make you look. Yes, you did throw up, no, you didnt get lost, you just slowed to a
snails pace, yes, you did pee, but yes, it was an orange-like colour. These are all

factors your support crew needs to know to help them more accurately assess your
condition (for better or worse) and help you.

How to read a runner

Support crews can often get a shock how irritable, down or just plain awful-looking their
runner may become and this very common. You cannot emphasise this enough to a
first-time ultra support crew. Assure them beforehand that they shouldnt be overly
concerned by first impressions of a runner when he or she comes into the checkpoint.
They should let the runner eat, drink, get warm and fix any niggles before deciding
whether indeed the runner is still part of the human race. While this is going on, there
are also some steps the support crew can take to help them get a good read on their
runner:
1. Check how responsive the runner is by asking simple but important questions.
Are they injured? How much have they had to drink? Have they had a pee, vomit
or any other bodily excretion? (You know, just the usual first date questions) Did
they eat since last checkpoint?
2. If the athlete is not lucid (e.g. not responding to questions or talking but not
making sense), then he or she may have a real problem. Just being crabby isnt
usually a problem.
3. How are they moving? Its common for a runner to move more stiffly as the race
wears on, but a limp could be the start of something serious or just a bad
blister. An inability to walk in a straight line might be funny, but it can really signal
danger.
4. How is their appetite and thirst? The range of foods an athlete can get down
might narrow down further into the race, but thats OK as long as the runner can
still eat or take in drinks or gels rich in sugars.
5. How is their body temperature? Are they really hot or cold? Often a runner can
come into a checkpoint looking OK, but unless it is very warm, support should

always immediately make sure the runner stays warm and out of the elements as
much as possible. Check for sunburn in the heat and wet or inadequately warm
clothing in the cold and/or rain.
6. Check for signs of dehydration or hyponotremia sunken eyes, bad headaches,
chills, swelling in the fingers, urine colour (you can just take the runners word for
it!) or lack of urination.

[BREAKOUT BOX]
Real runners say
On the first day of my run across the Simpson Desert, the temperature hit 45
degrees. I had my support crew recording everything I drank, so I can tell you that
in 24 hours I drank 15 litres and I peed 200ml.
Jane Trumper, first woman to run across the Simpson Desert (1315 sand
dunes!)
[ENDS]

Be prepared for anything

The support crew should always be equipped with an over-supply of options for their
runner food, drinks, clothes, lights, blankets, equipment, first aid material to patch up
the runner, several different types of tape that can be used for strapping, prevent
chafing, or patch up holes and leaks (in the runner and his or her pack and hydration
equipment). Food and drink options are especially important in ultramarathons, the
body may inexplicably stop accepting one type of food or drink, but get cravings for
another (more on this in the nutrition chapter).
Encourage your support crew to stay ahead of the game by checking on weather
reports and listening to race officials and other runners to know how the course
conditions are.

Support crew should advise, not criticise

Its important that the support crew understands in the heat of the race, the runners
morale can plummet and he or she can go to some dark places. They may even want to
quit. Pimp slapping such a runner is best avoided, although it wouldnt be the first time a
runner wore some palm on their face at an ultra. At the same time, the support shouldnt
just go along unquestioningly with the runner. Simply letting a runner quit can lead them
to a decision they will regret.
This is when its up to the support to offer positive suggestions and avoid criticism. If
support crew draw attention to how much their runner has slowed down or how far they
have fallen back in the field, then the runner might panic, rush, do something stupid or
they might simply throw in the towel. Theres many a runner who has pulled out of a
race and regretted it later, after they realised that if theyd just got through the funk of
being down on themselves, they could have kicked on and finished.
Heres how the support crew can help:

calm the runner down

help them make a rational assessment of their progress

reinforce the positives, and assure the runner how good he or she will feel about
finishing the race

assure the runner that its ok to slow down, rest and recover then see if they
feel better for it

Someone has to be the brains

While its good for support crew to ask questions, its not a good idea for them to rely
completely on the runner to make self-assessments or decisions. There will come a
time when the runner is too exhausted for this, or they will have their mind on other
things, like hot chips and beer, why they are doing this stupid race, or how to keep
putting one foot in front of the other.

Checklists will help the support crew do all they can for their runner. Sometimes the
support crew might have to get proactive, too, especially when the runner gets so
focussed on finishing, yet everything else seems too much effort eating, taking
medication, changing into warmer clothes, etc. This will help speed up the checkpoint
stops and cuts down reliance on coherent answers from a running zombie who probably
has his or her face full of food and drink. The support crew can do this by:

checking their backpacks to see how much the runner has eaten and drunk since
the last checkpoint

fill up drink bottles and hydration bladders

check blisters lance any that look like they will cause trouble

check for wet clothes

assess if runner needs any patching up, medications or caffeine

check if they have appropriate clothing and equipment (trekking pole, sunscreen,
wet or cold weather gear) for the next leg, and pack it/ put it on for the runner
without them having to ask.

Pulling the plug

Ultra running can take a runner to some dark places, especially as evening sets in.
Sometimes support crew can pick an athlete up with positive talk. A runners whole
attitude can change if they simply slow down, eat, hydrate, and look after their body
properly. In the end, however, its just a sport, not a death march. The support crew may
be reluctant to force their runner to quit or talk them out of quitting just because theyre
a bit glum and tired. The solution: get a professional opinion. Each time the support
crew sets up at a checkpoint, they should locate the medical staff (or the most
experienced ultra runners marshalling the checkpoint).

[BREAKOUT BOX]
Real runners say

Youll wake up the Monday morning after the race and ask, Could I have pushed
myself a bit more? And it will eat at you for the rest of the year! Its so much easier
just to finish. Even if it takes you a couple extra hours, it doesnt matter. You just
want to get to that finish line and have that sense of achievement.
Jane Trumper, first woman to run across the Simpson Desert
[ENDS]

SUMMARY
organise your support crew early and make sure they are people who know you
well
provide checklists of your requirements at every checkpoint
support should set up at checkpoints in a location where they can see runners
entering the checkpoint
runners need to be honest with their support crew about their expectations and
how theyre going in the race
better for the support crew to have more supplies and options than the runner
needs than not enough
encourage the crew to be proactive since you might not be in the best frame of
mind to make decisions or do whatever is necessary
the support crew can be in a better decision than the runner to decide when its
time to quit but a second opinion will help you both!