The 50K distance should be manageable with drop bags alone. In my personal opinion, a 50-mile race is where a crew begins to be helpful. Short ultras don’t demand the planning and care of 100km and 100 mile+ races. Remember, they don’t care how tired, sore, or miserable you are!

Your job as a crew chief or crew member is to minimize the damage that’s transferred to your athlete. In all seriousness, anything you do plan will be thrown off in a race someway, somehow. George Patton wasn’t an ultra runner when he said “a good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week”. Here’s your complete guide to crewing an ultramarathon runner. Regardless, the best crews are efficient and focused on getting the athlete back on the course rehydrated, refueled, and refocused. You may find yourself as a one-person F1 pit crew, or you may have the help of pacers.

There is a lot to consider when crewing a friend, family member, or significant other for an ultra-distance race.

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