Feeding Ultrarunners

[vgpedlr]

I volunteered at the last aid station for the Leadville 100 Trail run from 4PM SAt. to 8AM Sunday. ALL night. We had the pack struggling through from 3-5 AM.

We had the usual race fare: gels, sports drink, water, bananas, oranges, watermelon, pretzels, chips, PBJ, turkey wraps.

What did we run out of?

POTATOES!

What were we slinging as fast as possible in the wee hours?

Hot broth and ramen noodles.

I'm quite scalded and scarred from cooking and serving a dozen huge pots of noodles. What people were asking for was soup since it was late, very cold, and salty and savory was the preference.

Many requests for mashed potatoes or potato soup. Maybe next year I'll volunteer some soup of my own.

[Chris_B]

It is interesting that the hot starch seems to get more popular in the colder hours. I just spent all day and night volunteering and pacing at Run Rabbit Run and noticed no starch during the heat of the day but more when it got cold.

Honestly, I think it is ultra race malpractice not to have cold boiled potatoes w/ salt during the heat of the day and/or hot races. imo, the best aid station food available during hot races... works great as some solid food while primarily using liquid like Tailwind.

[Chris_B]

btw, thanks for volunteering at Leadville. The aid station volunteers may not get the thanks they deserve since they deal with runners at their worst (and best). I know the volunteers at my most recent race made everything so much smoother for my run and I cannot thank them enough.