24-Hour Racing: Individual or Team Sport?

Less than one week to go before the start of the North Coast 24-Hour National Championships in Cleveland, Ohio.  For better or worse, my training is complete.  Now, I just have to wait for the start...

With all this time on my hands, I started thinking about the benefits of running the race solo or using a crew.  While I have done 24-hour races without a crew a number of times, it is definitely not as much fun as having an attentive crew to help with anything you need.  Much of the details are worked out by the crew and at the end of the race I feel like we all ran the race, not just me.  Definitely a TEAM effort.

I am very lucky to have the National Championships in my backyard, just a few miles from where I live (and more importantly where my friends live).  From some crazy reason, I have a number of friends who seem to be looking as forward to the race as much as me.

Just one more bite, Courtney likes to say...

First, I have an amazing "Crew Chief," Courtney.  She is incredibly organized, stays up all night, and forces me to eat and drink.

What would I do without my own personal chef?  Karen is whipping up some awesome snacks.  They are special reserves to break open in the middle of the night.  I will definitely be looking forward to them.

Don't mess with Chef Karen.  She has sharp knives!

Night owl, Laurel, will be stopping by for the "second shift," any time after dark.  I will be using some of her lucky charms during the race....

No, this is not Laurel's lucky charm.... that is top secret....

I think though my number one fan is Mindy.  She is drawn to the race like a moth to a flame (or possibly a midge... hope they don't make an appearance at the race this year).  Her smiling face is a constant.... lap after lap.

Mindy's smile won't let me stop running!

Finally, my Equipment manager/photographer/master of ceremonies/masseur extra-ordinaire (and S.O.) - Roger.  He'd rather be doing anything else besides hanging out at Edgewater all weekend.  The race would definitely not be fun if he wasn't there!

Curling, not running, is Roger's thing!

I could post a TON more pictures of all the wonderful support I get during the race.  Those pics will be posted AFTER the race.  Whatever the results of the race this weekend, I know that I am spending 24 hours with wonderful friends and that makes me a winner any day.