The Job of Crew
Crew can organize familiar supplies, help communicate with race staff, and reduce logistical confusion. They are not there to control food, fluid, pace, sleep, or the decision to continue. Write down both the support you want and the boundaries you expect them to respect.
If you are unsure whether you need support, read Do you need a crew for an ultramarathon?. This article covers why and when to crew and how to lay the operation out. The rules your crew actually reads on the day — consent boundaries, aid-station wording, and the medical red-flag list — live in the crew instructions template, which is designed to be printed.
Crew Table Setup
Use the ultramarathon crew and drop-bag planner to assign supplies, arrival windows, access rules, and short instructions to each stop. Print the sheet for your crew or keep it with your own bags.
Build the table around race phases, not product categories. A tired runner does not need a beautiful spread. They need a system.
| Zone | Possible contents | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Familiar supplies | Tested bottles, food, layers, and runner-requested items | Make optional choices easy to find |
| Night | Headlamp, backup light, warm layer, gloves | Support visibility and changing conditions |
| Feet | Tested socks, footwear, skin protection, and foot-care supplies | Respond to fit, debris, moisture, or hot spots |
| Rest and safety | Chair, dry layer, emergency details, event medical location | Make rest and trained assessment accessible |
A worked layout for a 24-hour loop race
The quantities below are one concrete example for a single runner with two crew on a short loop, sized for roughly 24 hours with a margin. Scale them to your event, your tested food, and what the venue already provides — this is an illustration of proportions, not a shopping list to adopt unchanged:
- Table, left third — drinks. Six pre-mixed 500 ml bottles rotated back through a cooler, one 2-litre jug of plain water, and one flask of something hot. Rotating bottles is what keeps a stop short; refilling at the table is what makes it long.
- Table, middle — food, in four labelled bags by phase. Roughly eight to ten small items per six-hour bag, with the night bags weighted toward warm and savoury. Keep one bag of "nothing sounds good" options separate.
- Table, right third — feet and skin. Four to six pairs of tested socks in individual bags, two spare shoe options, tape, scissors, lubricant, and a towel. Keep this zone physically separate from food.
- Under the table — night box. Two headlamps plus spare cells, two warm layers, hat, gloves, and a waterproof, packed before dark rather than found in the dark.
- Beside the table — the chair. One low chair, a blanket, and the printed crew instructions clipped where both crew can see them. If the chair is buried behind the food, resting becomes a negotiation.
Crew Instructions
Write the instructions before race day and keep them short enough to follow at 3 AM. Rather than drafting them from scratch, start from the crew instructions template, which holds the consent rules, the aid-station wording, the race-phase checklists, and the medical red-flag list in one printable place. Fill in your own gear locations, food, emergency contact, and event medical details, then print one copy per crew shift.
Use the gear checklist generator to turn that document into a packing list.
Aid Station Rules
A simple plan can reduce searching, but it should never block rest or assessment. When you are thinking clearly, decide whether you want supplies, a change of clothing, foot care, quiet, rest, race medical staff, or help stopping.
- Check the event's rules for personal crew, outside assistance, and aid-station access, and where the crew is allowed to stand.
- Work out how often you will actually reach the table, and size each zone for that interval rather than for the whole race.
- Label familiar supplies and keep emergency information easy to find.
- Rest as needed; stop-time targets are optional and can be abandoned.
How the crew should speak to you at each of those stops, and what they must escalate instead of solving, is set out in the crew instructions template.
If You Are Solo
Solo runners can use the same organization without adopting rigid stop rules. Pre-pack and label familiar supplies, note where race aid and medical support are located, and tell an emergency contact how the event communicates withdrawals or transfers.
If you are racing a backyard ultra, adapt this into a between-loop checklist: bottle, food, feet, layer, bathroom, start corral. See the backyard ultra race strategy for format-specific routines.
Sources
- International Association of Ultrarunners — championship and event context. The organizer's current rules remain authoritative.
- Hew-Butler, T. et al. (2015) — exercise-associated hyponatremia consensus statement. Crew cannot diagnose look-alike conditions from symptoms alone.
- Editorial planning framework, reviewed July 20, 2026. It is not a medical protocol or a substitute for event rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a crew for a 24-hour race?
Many looped 24-hour events support uncrewed runners, but rules and aid vary. A crew can organize familiar supplies, record the runner's choices, and contact race staff when something changes. Check the event's crew access and support rules before deciding.
What should crew do first?
The first job is to support the runner's stated choices within the event rules. Ask what help is wanted, organize familiar gear, and escalate warning signs to trained race medical staff. Continuing is never the crew's decision.
How do you avoid wasting time at aid stations?
Organize and label supplies, and let the runner name the next task before arrival when they are able. Efficiency is optional: rest, sitting, medical assessment, and a decision to stop should never be treated as wasted time.