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Aid stations are a wonderful thing. Without aid stations, you would have to carry all your own food, water, and supplies through the entirety of an ultra. Sure, this is quite possible and is done all the time on longer training runs, but it sure is nice to run a race with minimal encumbrance. Still, countless minutes or even hours can easily be frittered away in aid stations. Spending as little as two minutes in each aid station adds up to nearly an hour in the 29-aidstation Vermont 100!

Much of that time need not be wasted. To minimize aid station time, prepare your basic aid station plan prior to the race as described in the “Support Crew” and “Drop Bag” subsections earlier in this chapter. Whether or not you have a crew and drop bags at a race, you’ll likely have to deal with aid stations without such luxuries, as few ultras have crew access or drop bag service at all aid stations. Thus, plan for these “self-service” aid stations as well.

Most aid stations are usually far from self-service. Indeed, the vast majority are staffed by volunteers who are eager to help you. Sometimes this assistance and the vast array of food, beverage, and creature comforts (chair and a wet towel, anyone?) is overwhelming. The best way to deal with the plethora of choices and minimize aid station time is to plan what you need at a given aid station before you get there. There’s plenty of time on the trail to mull over the general choices—which beverages, what types of food, what issues need to be taken care of. If you have trouble remembering, develop a mnemonic or tell your pacer, if you have one.

Remember that one of your aid station options is to run right through the aid station without stopping. This option is best employed at races with aid stations that are close together.

Once you’re in the aid station, attend only to the needs you determined while out on the trail. Don’t be swayed by offers for things you don’t need or stand dumbstruck by the bounty of food available. If volunteers are offering to fill your water bottle or hydration pack, let them. Just prior to the aid station, remove the tops of the bottles to be filled or make your hydration bladder accessible. Simultaneously, take care of your other aid station needs while the kind volunteer is refilling your hydration system.

A chair is a sight for sore legs in an aid station. Beware the chair! It’s always harder to get up than you think it will be. Plus, every time you sit, there’s a small but real chance that, physically or mentally, you won’t be able to get back up. One reason to sit might be to change your shoes, if a pair is available from your crew or a drop bag. Aside from changing out of wet shoes when I know my new shoes will stay dry for a substantial period, I avoid changing my shoes unless I have foot problems very early in the race or I have severe foot pain. In my personal calculus, I would rather stick with a pair of shoes that has gradually led to moderate blistering or foot pain over many miles rather than risk changing into shoes that could be far worse.

Whether you change shoes or not, there’s one last thing to do before leaving the aid station—thank the volunteers!

Have Fun!

There will be trying times in an ultra, but enjoy what you can of it. Take in the scenery. Talk with friends and strangers alike. Lose yourself in thought or zone out. Marvel at your accomplishment or laugh at your foolishness. Laugh. If it’s a rainy mess, jump in some puddles. If it’s hot, jump in a stream. Let out a triumphant cheer at the top of a climb and a joyous holler as you fly down a hill. Be a kid. Be happy.

13

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS*

* The information found in this chapter is not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment.

Before I go scaring anyone, I need to reaffirm that most ultras, road or trail, are run in hospitable environments. Sure, they’re long and difficult, but the conditions under which they’re run are within the range of your normal running experience or within a mind’s leap of it. And then there are a few