Do You Actually Need a Crew for Your First Ultra?

Short answer: it depends on the distance. Here's the honest breakdown.

Marathon and 50K: You're Fine Solo

If you're running a marathon or a 50K, you likely don't need a crew. You're out on course for somewhere in the range of four to seven hours. Aid stations are usually well-stocked and close together, and your body hasn't had time to fall apart yet. Plenty of first-time ultra runners finish a 50K with nothing more than a hydration vest and a drop bag at the start/finish line.

If that's your race, save your money. A crew isn't necessary here, this is the distance where going solo makes total sense.

100K and Beyond: Where a Crew Starts to Matter

The math changes once you get into 100K, 100-mile, and multi-day distances like 200-milers.

A 100K typically takes 12-20+ hours. A 100-miler typically takes 24-36+ hours. A 200-miler can take 3-4+ days.

You can still do these solo. People do. But somewhere in there, most runners hit a point where basic decision-making gets hard. You're not thinking clearly about calories, hydration, or gear changes anymore, you're just trying to survive the next few steps. We call this the pain cave, and this is where races fall apart.

I know it firsthand. Mile 107 of my first 200-miler, in the middle of the Arizona heat, I broke down. I wanted to cry. I physically could not make myself move. Every part of me wanted to drop. My crew looked at me and told me to lace up and get walking. So I did. I finished that race 3rd overall. Without them standing there, refusing to let me quit, There’s no way I would have finished that race.

That's the pain cave. It's not a metaphor, it's a real place your body and mind end up, somewhere past hour twenty, and it's exactly where a crew earns its keep. A crew isn't a luxury add-on at this distance.

A crew is what keeps you fed and hydrated, because you've stopped being able to track this yourself. On track, with fresh socks, dry layers, and gear swaps ready before you have to ask. Moving forward, with someone making the small logistical decisions so you don't have to. Motivated, because a familiar face at an aid station at 3am does more for morale than anything in your pack.

You could still finish without one. But a crew is the difference between white-knuckling it and actually having support behind you when your body and brain are both checking out.

What a Pacer Actually Does (It's Not Just "Pacing")

This one trips up a lot of first-timers, because the name is misleading. A pacer isn't there to just run next to you and keep your legs moving at a certain speed. That's a small part of it. What a pacer really does:

Navigates for you. In the dark, exhausted, on unfamiliar trail, missing a turn can cost you real time or worse. A pacer handles the route so you don't have to.

Talks you through the low points. The middle-of-the-night miles are where doubt shows up. A pacer knows how to pull you out of a spiral instead of letting you sit in it.

Lets you switch your brain off. This might be the most underrated part. Late in a race, decision fatigue is real. A pacer lets you stop thinking and just run, because someone else is handling the thinking for you.

In other words, a pacer's real job is mental and logistical support, not just physical company. That's a very different thing than most first-timers picture when they hear the word.

I got a glimpse of what that bond can do when I ran across Scotland. I met two other runners on the first night, and the three of us ended up running the entire race together. None of us were officially pacing each other, we just fell in together. But we kept each other awake when we couldn't keep our eyes open, talked each other through the worst stretches, and planned ahead as a team so none of us fell apart alone. That race would have been a hard DNF without them.

That kind of bond is rare. I got lucky finding it by chance, on a random start line, on a random night. Most runners don't get that lucky. A pacer is how you make sure you don't have to leave it to chance, someone who shows up already committed to getting you through it, instead of hoping you happen to meet the right strangers at the right moment.

So, Do You Need One?

If you're training for a 50K or shorter, don't overthink it, you're fine on your own. *Reach out if you have questions!

If you're building toward a 100K, 100-miler, or something longer, it's worth thinking seriously about a crew, and possibly a pacer for the back half of the race. Not because you can't do it alone, but because the version of you at hour 25 is not the same person who signed up for this back at hour zero, and that's exactly the person a crew is there for.

Beyond the Buckle provides race-day crewing, pacing, and pre-race coaching for first-time ultra runners. [Learn more about our packages →]