Ultra_Tales_Issue_13

Gemma Carter writes about the invaluable role andassistance of your “Support Crew”SUPPORT CREWBy Gemma Carter'So what on earth do you do when Gemma'srunning for such a long time!?!' Said the woman ata recent party to my long suffering boyfriend.'Well....basically, I'm usually standing in a fieldsomewhere, as instructed by her, awaiting herarrival. At which point she arrives, barks a feworders along the lines of food and drink andwithin 30 seconds she's off running into thedistance. This pattern then repeats itself for theduration of something between 7-20 hoursdepending on the length of the event. Thebarking becoming worse the longer into it.''Oh. Errr, sorry, so why?' Perplexed in disbelief.Why indeed. Although I'm rather hoping he didn'tdwell too long on an answer otherwise he mightstart to realise that crewing an ultra runner, at times(usually most of the time!) isn't all that fun.“crewing an ultra runner,at times isn't all that fun”Why do our loved ones give up so much of their lifeto help us pursue our nutty athletic endeavours?Putting up with our pre race nerves and selfcentredness, the hours spent driving to races in themiddle of nowhere, hanging around in cars, usingportaloos instead of toilets, days spent rushingfrom aid station to aid station for us to finishsomewhat a complete wreck (and that's if the racewent well!). If the race went badly, expect possibletears, tantrums, over analysis on how they had toomuch 'Gu' (remember to nod and agree pretendingyou have a clue what the Gu substance is) or thattheir blisters proved too painful. Oh and thinkyourself lucky if you aren't asked to help them drainthem later.Here surmises the life of a supporter of ultrarunning. Fun isn't it?This isn't really the point of this article, but I hope Ihighlight that sometimes as runners we canbecome a little all engrossed in our sport expectingour family and friends to be the same, their loveand passion just as strong. Trust me, fromexperience, sometimes they don't enjoy knowingsplit by minute mile split of your latest training run,that Killian Jornet just broke the course record atLeadville and that his VO2 max is 92 (and yes theyprobably don't know what either of those are) orshare the same joy when you discover a food thatdoesn't give you gut issues in an ultra. Yes, theyNEVER want to know about your gut issues...But yet, support. Is. Vital. Have you ever heard of anOlympian that succeeded all by their selves withoutthe support of family, friends and a team of expertsbehind them? No. Take Andy Murray for example, hesingle handedly sought out the help and expertiseof the best specialists in the field of tennis,sometimes funding it completely by himself;45 ULTRA TALES | OCTOBER 2014Sponsored by thehttp://