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With the recent NY Post article detailing the plight of a runner who’s boyfriend ate her snacks, we began thinking about the true duties of a runner’s support staff. This is not an easy role, and should not be accepted lightly. If you have a runner who has asked you to be their support staffer during an upcoming marathon, do not accept unless you are ready to take on the powerful task. WITH GREAT POWER, COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY.
Do not eat our snacks. Or drink our drinks. Or chew our gum. Or make the decision for us that we won’t want it. We may not want it. But, if we get to mile 17 and you do not have that bag of gummy bears, which granted we may take and throw out at mile 18, we will be mad. We may only want to carry that 24-hour energy shot with us until the end. But that is our decision to make.
If we have told you that we will be giving something on the course, have your hand out ready to accept it. If we have stated that we “may” want to drop a piece of clothing at mile 3, we are removing that piece of clothing at mile 2.8 and will have that clothing ready to hand off as soon as we see you. Do NOT have your phone out filming us, waving, all smiley faced and happy to see us. Have your hand out ready to accept said piece of clothing so we do not have to stop and/or pause to allow you to rearrange your things to free up a hand.
Text us which side of the street you are on. And make sure you are telling us if it is our right or left. Your runner. Not you. Here’s an example from my dad sent during the 2023 Chicago Marathon. Feel free to copy for your own runner.
It’s also helpful if you include notes about something around you to help us find you. For example, ” we are right next to a clown”. Here’s an example of a good navigational message sent to me by my sister in 2024.
You can also see my brief reminder to my son, Bear, to bring my sunglasses to mile 13.1. Please don’t expect much from your runner. They aren’t trying to be rude. They are running. When passing off items to your runner, have them out ready to hand off quickly. Think of it like a baton at a track meet. Out and waiting for your runner to grab as they go!
Don’t baby us. This isn’t helpful. Running 26.2 is hard. There are moments when you want to cry. If you tell us it’s ok to quit, that will make us quit. Be firm, encouraging but firm. “You’re doing great. Just keep going. It’s one day. Embrace the suck.” I don’t know – Something like that. My dad’s statement of “Don’t be a wuss” is usually what toughens me up and helps me get to the finish line. Or my husband’s “Fine – hit the bathroom, but make it fast. You need to get back out there.” You know your runner but, in my opinion, tough love is best during a marathon. This is, of course, caveated with, if your runner is injured or health is becoming questionable, quitting is the right answer.
Don’t let us change our mind about our running outfit and/or shoes the morning of the race. That’s just nerves talking and bad idea.
Find us at the end. We can’t find you. We want to, but our brain is full of post-run fog and our legs aren’t working. I remember one year I found a kind woman who was spectating the race and begged to use her phone to call my husband because I was lost. On Michigan Avenue. I grew up here. Went to Law School here. Have run this marathon countless times. But I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to find the intersection of Michigan and Washington.
Don’t ask us if we won. If it’s the Chicago Marathon, we didn’t.
Most importantly, know that we appreciate you and need you to be there. Not having your support team on the course, when you expect them to be there, can ruin a runner’s entire experience. If you commit to being there, please be there. Running a marathon is hard, and runners need their people to care for them along the way.
Thank you to all of the support crews out there that take care of their runners, and all of the rest of us. There have been many times that I’ve run up to someone else’s family and asked them to hold something while I fixed my ponytail or made a clothing adjustment or stretched a cramp. You are an important part of your runner’s journey.
