CREWING TIPS

About Us
Contact Us

Badwater

Stories

Races

Clinics

Preparation

Blister Care

Charts

Photos

Crewing

Death Valley

Whitney/Sierra

Inyo/Desert

Other Running

Hiking

Biking/Cycling

Photo Gallery

Links

Blog

Powerpoint

Archives
Podcasts

Tips for optimal crewing and pacing a successful Badwater Ultramarathon regardless of the runners pace are provided in the following sections:

· Structuring Your Crew

· Scheduling Your Crew

· Selecting Crew Vehicles

· Organizing the Crew Van

· Recording Your Race

· Using Pacers

Structuring Your Crew

The optimal number of crew is three for efficiency. Any more crew members and you Badwater Ultramarathon team is impacted by diminishing returns from a cost, effort, and safety standpoint of supporting, moving, and coordinating too many people through Death Valley.

Although all crew members will likely perform some aspects of all three of the following functions, select your crew members with the following primary responsibilities in mind.

Crew Member Functions

Member	Responsibilities	Characteristics
Crew Chief	· Planning technical aspects such as managing the logistics of fueling vehicles, re-supplying ice and water, managing the effects of weather, moving vehicles, etc · Understanding the course distances, landmarks, etc · Making decisions to manage circumstances that arise for the runner during the race	· Quick thinking · Decision maker · Sense of location/direction · Knowledgeable about endurance sport · Knowledgeable about desert environments · Knowledgeable about Death Valley
“Medic”	· Providing foot care and treating blisters · Understanding, monitoring, and administering hydration, fuel, and electrolytes · Understanding, monitoring, and administering stomach meds, pain relief meds, any meds the runner is prescribed, etc · Providing massage	· Experience in or understanding of sport medicine in endurance sport · Experience in or understanding of endurance sport in desert environments including foot care
Psychological support	Providing runner-specific psychological support/coaching/motivation during the lower periods of the runner’s race	· The runner’s family member, spouse, loved one, close friend · Understanding of the psychology of endurance sport

Scheduling Your Crew

Schedule crews in 12-hour “working” and 12-hour “resting” shifts where two crew members are working at all times. Consider the following circumstances when scheduling shifts.

Realize that the daytime working shifts are generally more frenetic than night-time working shifts because of the efforts to manage the runner during the most dangerous temperatures.

· Calculate travel time from and back to the runner on the course in the resting shift period.

· Include a transition time between shifts where the working crew members update the rested crew member of the runns status and occurrences effecting the runner over the last 12 hours.

· Provide specific instructions about any tasks the resting crew member needs to accomplish during his/her resting shift such as re-supplying food items or ice, checking out of a hotel, making a phone call, picking up Whitney permits form the Forest Service Office, etc.

· Make reservations for hotel rooms along the course for crew to rest early to ensure your crew has accommodations to rest during the race.

· Use the small, support car to drive resting crew members to and from hotel rest sights.

· Identify crew members’ driving preferences such as poor night driving vision, experience with driving winding mountain roads, experience driving a fully packed van, etc to schedule crew members’ driving preferences with shifts on the various sections of the course

Selecting Crew Vehicles

For the optimal crew of three, select vehicles from the following two categories:

· A small shuttle/commuter car to run errands and to drive the resting crew from the course to the hotel and back

· The crew van

Consider the following features in selecting the crew van:

· White exterior and a light color interior

· Two rows of removable passenger seats

· A place to store the removed middle row of passenger seats during the race if the crew van is a rental picked up at an airport in route to the Badwater Ultramarathon

· Sliding doors on both sides of the van for easy access

· A rear door that can be easily reached and closed

· A driver’s seat that can be adjusted for all members of the crew

· Highway assistance programs available for the van

Organizing the Crew Van

Here is the gear that is most commonly used at the Badwater Ultramarathon.

Badwater Ultramarathon Gear and Supplies

“Kitchen” Supplies

· Two X-gallon Ice chests

· One 5-gallon cooler

· Ice scope

· Funnel for pouring drink powder into water bottles

· Trash bags

· Hand broom

· Zip-lock baggies

· Knife

· Disposable plates, bowls, cups, and utensils

· Paper towels

Medical Supplies

· Water sprayer

· Towels and sponges

· Bug spray

· Toilet paper

· Electrolytes

· Sodium tablets

· Pain management meds

· Caffeine pills

· Sun block, chapstick, zinc oxide, etc

· Basic first aid kit

· Thermometer to monitor body temperature

· Antiseptic wet wipes

· Bodyglide

Foot Care Box

· Micropore tape (3M), Band-Aids, dressings, etc

· Compeed, Elastogel, Duoderm, etc for pressure areas and blisters

· Swabs, needles, razor blades, tweezers, scissors, etc

· Nylon stockings, ankle length, to go over skin before socks to help prevent chaffing and blistering

· Basin for soaking feet, etc

· Lubricant

Fuel and Hydration

· Multiple gallons of bottled water

· Case(s) of 1-liter bottled water

· Sports fluid replacement such as Gatorade, Cytomax, Exceed, etc

· Snacks such as pretzels, peanuts, corn-nuts, Ritz bits crackers, Cheetos, Fritos, etc

· Carbohydrate source such as Sustained Energy, sports gel, Carboplex, Gum drops, jelly, beans, fig newtons, pop tarts, etc

· Fruit such as watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, grapes

· Caffeinated soda, coffee, energy drinks.

· Ingredients for sandwiches: bagels, sliced turkey, sliced cheese, peanut butter, jelly, etc

· Chicken noodle soup, Cup-of-Soup, cup of instant oatmeal, etc

· Jerky

Runner’s Gear

· Multiple 20-oz water bottles with hand straps

· Multiple pieces of full coverage solar-protective clothing

· Shorts and light shirts made of technical fabric for night running

· Under garments that prevent chaffing

· Race number

· Several light-colored pairs of running shoes including a larger size

· Orthotics or insoles such as Sof Soles for cushioning and insulation

· Socks, consider Supphose for swelling an Injinji to protect against blistering

· Hats with long-bill or wide brim plus shroud

· Sunglasses

· Nose shield that fits on glasses (optional)

· Goggles for sand storms

· Cooltie or handkerchief for ice to cool the neck

Night Gear

· Reflective vest

· Strobe light or flashers

· Lighting such as light weight hand-held flashlights and headlamps for runners and crew

“Office” Supplies

· Clipboard, pens, pencils, note paper, etc.

· Badwater Notes Template

· Cellular phone (Optional as service is unreliable)

· Crisp $1 bills for vending and ice machines

· Coins for vending machines

· Inyo County, Death Valley, Owens Valley, and Whitney topo maps

· Thermometer for outside air temperatures

· Camera(s) and film

Hardware

· Duct tape bungee cords, rope, cord, string, etc

· Safety pins

· Folding lawn/camp chair(s)

· Umbrella (for sun)

Mountain Gear

· Summit goggles and or shields for side-stems (for side-glare)

· Trekking poles

· Trail shoes

· Diamox 250-mg tablets for high altitude sickness prevention

· Water purification tablets or water filter for Giardia on Whitney trail

· Cold temperature/mountaineering clothing

· Camelback-type back pack to carry mountain gear, fuel, and fluid

Organize the crew van as follows.

· Remove the middle row of seats in the van so that only the driver’s row and a back row remain.

· Place the largest, most frequently accessed items in the van in the order that they are used.

· Keep access to the van from the sliding doors on both sides clear.

· Use and arrange three coolers as follows:

Cooler Uses

#	Purpose	Specifications	Use
1	Store ice for drinks	· 5-gal, round NFL Gatorade-type · Spigot · Handles for carrying · Secure lid	· Fill this cooler with one block of ice and one bag of cubes and gallons of bottled water. · Keep this cooler uncontaminated with dirty hands, bottles, etc. · Use an ice scoop to fill bottles with ice from the cooler. · Do not store anything in this cooler. · Fill bottles with drinking water from the melted ice.
2	“Refrigerator”	· 10?-gal, ice chest-type · Elevated shelf to keep items dry and separated from melting ice · Drain spigot · Handles for carrying · Secure lid	· Fill this cooler with cube ice but do not “bury” the cooler contents with the cubes. · Store items requiring refrigeration. · Drain water to use it to fill spay bottles, soak feet, or for any non-potable use. · Replace melted ice drained from the cooler with cubes from the ice storage chest.
3	Ice storage chest	· 10?-gal, ice chest-type · Drain spigot · Spigot for cold water · Handles for carrying · Secure lid	· Fill this cooler with a two blocks of ice and the remainder with bags of cubes. · Do not open this cooler except to remove ice to re-supply coolers #1 and 2. · Later in the race, drain this cooler into cooler #1 as a source of cold drinking water.

· Arrange “kitchen” supplies, medical items, foot care box, and runner gear in easily accessible separate containers.

· Identify a specific place in the van for the container of night gear such as reflective vests, blinking lights, flashlights, and crew headlamps.

· Keep money for ice and gas in the glove box.

· Keep the Badwater Notes Template on a clipboard with a pencil attached on a string in the “kitchen”/medical area of the van.

· Do not store gear for Whitney such as heavy clothes, trekking poles, trail shoes, etc in the van: use the small shuttle/commuter vehicle for this storage.

· Do not store unnecessary crew gear in the van.

Recording Your Race

The Badwater Ultramarathon last too long for anyone to remember when all the essential electrolytes, rest periods, medications, etc are administered to the runner. Use the Badwater Race Notes Template to record information about the runner’s race to ensure that the runner is getting the fuel, hydration, electrolytes, rest, and meds as planned or as the situation comes to require.

When the race is complete, use these recorded race notes to:

· Analyze the good and other aspects of the runner’s race

· Help plan future Badwater races

· Provide info for press releases, race stories, refreshed memories

Using Pacers

At the Badwater Ultramarathon, pacers are not necessary for the traditional trail 100 pacing functions of:

· Providing assistance in finding a trail course

· Assisting the runner from getting lost on a trail course

· Carrying gear for miles between aid stations

Pacers add to the logistical plans, use supplies more quickly, and increase the effort of the crew who must provide double everything when there is a pacer on the course. Use pacers when the runner is at a psychological low point that responds only to the presence of a pacer.

Have a well-planned, efficient, successful Badwater Ultramarathon!

RETURN TO TOP

badwaterbenjones.com