Questions to Ask Your Runner if You’re Gonna Pace …

This past weekend, I paced my friend, Larry Huffman, at the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100. Beginning at 4 am on Saturday, Larry ran 103.7 miles of rugged and relentlessly rocky single track trail in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley area, suffering over 16,000 feet of ascent/descent for twenty-nine long hours, forty-five excruciating minutes, and twenty-four never-ending seconds. I had the pleasure of accompanying him for 40 miles, beginning at the Camp Roosevelt Aid Station, to the finish at the Catherine Furnace Lutheran Camp at the southern end of Fort Valley, just over the mountain from Luray, Virginia.

Larry and me at Hawkbills Summit, the highest point in Shenandoah National Park @ 4,050 feet at Sophie’s Death March in July 2013.

Needless to say, helping a fellow runner execute their race strategy in order to achieve his/her goal is a verrrrrry important job. I had pacers at Hellgate in both 2012 and 2013 and have no doubt whatsoever that I would have not finished without them. I cannot stress how much their presence, positive energy, and willingness to deal with my needy, pitiful, whiny arse got my aforementioned pathetic ass to the finish.

That said, Larry is a very experienced and accomplished ultrarunner, who had run and completed MMT 100 before, so he certainly didn’t *need* me as much as I’d needed company to stay focused, awake, and alert on the trails, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t nervous about being as good/strong/ready of a companion as possible.

I wasn’t there to get in a good long run nor was I there to feel out whether or not I wanted to attempt MMT for myself someday. My only purpose to be 500% focused on Larry to make sure he was eating, drinking, comfortable and happy — well, as comfortable and happy as one can reasonably be whilst trying to cover 100+ miles by foot — to continually move with purpose, be it running or hiking, until he got a shiny new buckle to add to his collection.

Thus, the only way to help Larry execute his race plan was to know his plan, so I emailed him the following questions:

• Overall time goal?
• Plan B time goal?
• Any other goal(s)?

• What issues/problems did you have last year?
• What (i.e. gear/nutrition/strategy) worked well for you?
• What are you most excited for/worried about this year?

• What do you need me to do?
• What do you *not* want me to do?

Nutrition/hydration: 

• How much do you plan to drink per hour?
• How many calories do you plan to eat per hour?
• Can I fuss at you to eat/drink if you’re not keeping up on intake?

Aid stations:

• What are things to eat/drink that you typically find appealing? What are safe items for your belly?
• What are things you can’t stand to eat/drink?
• What is the maximum amount of time you want me to allow you to spend at an AS?
• Is it okay to sit down at an AS?
• Do you have a checklist for what you want from your drop bag?

Nausea:

• How do you deal with nausea, i.e. gnaw on TUMS, ginger candy; drink ginger ale, flat cola?
• If you puke, are you able to eat/drink afterwards?

Meds:

• What, if any, do you plan to take? How much? How often?
• Aleve/ibuprofen/aspirin?
• S! caps, SaltStick pills?

Gear:

• What do you plan to carry on you? iPod? Headlamp? Phone? Type of watch? Hydration pack? Handheld bottles? Anything special to eat/drink?
• What, if anything, do you want *me* to carry?

Personal care:

• Bug bites?
• Poison ivy?
• Chafing?
• Brush your teeth?
• Change of clothes: fresh bandanna, shirt, shorts, sunglasses, hat/visor?
• Are there any other potential medical issues of which I should be aware: asthma, allergies, bee stings, etc.?

Staying awake:

• Caffeine via coffee, gels? Red Bull? A 5 hour energy drink? Caffeine pills?
• Talking? Tunes?
• Is a short nap at any point okay?

Foot care issues:

• What shoes will you be wearing? What type of socks? Drymax? SmartWool? Injinji toe socks?
• When will you want to change socks and/or shoes?
• Do you typically blister? Where?
• Will you need me to tape your feet or tend to blisters?

Larry was gracious enough to answer each question, and having/knowing this information (which I studied intently leading up to race day), plus a few dirty jokes, made me feel mentally prepared. (Physically speaking, one can never be *prepared* for the cruelty of those MMT rocks.)

Did I miss anything? What else would you ask your runner if you were going to pace? What other information would be helpful for you to know?