crew is key

one piece of trail running that i recently ruminated on is the importance of crew. maybe it’s my thirst for punishment as i entertain - or discount - new endeavors in the ultra distance space. or maybe it resonates to a current life season. likely a cocktail of both.

either way - your crew is key.

especially dabbling into the longer and longer efforts that involve running/trekking through the night. or efforts where it becomes challenging to not have external support logistically and nutritionally. i’ve been recently using the excuse that i don’t have a crew to cap prospective races or projects to 50 miler’s (of the standard trail race formats). i’m keeping to the story that until i find other crazy [cool] individuals to rally with me, that i’ll keep my adventures to the daytime efforts. i just don’t have the urging pull to run in the woods through the night. what got me into the scene was time spent enjoying nature, and running came from the goal to create longer days and go further…i just don’t enjoy nature the same grinding out hours and hours by headlamp…but never say never i guess.

all that to say…

the longer the race/quest/journey, the more important your crew becomes. they check your fueling, pacing, and headspace at designated points along the course to make sure everything is on track, providing steady support for each stage in order to get you to the finish line.

their job is to have a bigger perspective on the day and the course – help you determine when your pace is too fast or slow, when your fueling is insufficient or problematic, when your headspace needs recalibration.

your crew determines when to call you higher, when to bring reason, and how to establish sustainability for the journey. helping you stay present and stay positive. know you enough to know what’s normal and what’s not.

they carry the burden of logistics so you can focus on one step at a time along the course. they may not be out step-for-step on your quest, but they are key to going further. the better they know you, the more you trust them, the greater the journey.

i love to see a crew team in action. runner comes through, perhaps slogging from who knows how many miles, perhaps sleep deprived, likely calorically deprived, plops down in a camp chair - and the team goes to work.

each aid station stop starts with the crew asking, “what do you need right now?”

it’s a well-oiled pit crew. bringing food, offloading empty bottles, reloading new ones, handing off a cup of soup or quesadilla, pulling off shoes and socks, rubbing down sore legs….whatever is needed.

then there’s the heart-to-heart, locker-room style pep talks. motivation to stand up and take one more step.

it can be such a wild scene.

and for podium contenders, aid station organization and efficiency can make or break a race. the elite’s will actually exercise run-throughs and practice race-day strategies.

so when everything gets really, really, really real and emotions run high - the systems are in place. you can trust your crew.

i think this all checks out.

i know in the enduring efforts of various life seasons, i need a crew. a crew that knows me, has seen my highs and lows, knows when to give me a butt kick and when to put the blanket over my shoulders. when to force-feed me and when to let me lie down.

i simply need to invite them on the journey.
i don’t have to fear the night section because i have a crew.

what about you? who is asking you, “what do you need right now?”

heb 12:1,2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.