Planning Your Ultramarathon Aid Station Strategy

How much time do you really need at an aid station during an ultra?

Time at aid stations is situational. Some you will blow straight through, some will take only a few minutes, and some you will never want to leave. That is why it is important to have a plan and understand the impact each stop can have on the rest of your race.

The aim is not to rush every aid station or leave before you are ready. Sometimes spending extra time fixing your feet, eating properly, changing gear or dealing with a problem is exactly the right decision. The goal is to get in, do what you need to do, and get moving again as quickly as the circumstances allow.

Aid station time is not automatically wasted time. Time used deliberately can keep your race moving. Time that drifts because you are tired, comfortable or trying to decide what to do can quietly become a much bigger part of your finish time than you expected.

Why aid station time matters

When we think about the time required to finish an ultra, it is easy to focus on running pace. If you want to complete a 100K in 16 hours or a 100 miler in 30 hours, the obvious question is how quickly you need to move.

But the race clock does not stop when you do.

Every minute spent refilling bottles, eating, changing clothes, using the toilet, finding a drop bag, talking to crew or sitting in a chair remains part of your elapsed race time. That time has to come from somewhere.

If the finish target stays the same, more time at aid stations means less time available for movement. It can also reduce the buffer you have against later checkpoint cutoffs.

Small stops become a large number

A single five-minute stop does not sound significant during a race that may last all day and through the night. The problem is not usually one stop. It is what happens when that time is repeated across the entire race.

These are examples, not recommendations. A race with eight simple aid stations creates a different planning problem from a mountain race with crew access, mandatory gear checks, drop bags and major changes in weather.

The important point is that the total is visible. Ten minutes can feel like nothing while you are sitting down late in a race. Repeat it often enough and a large part of your cutoff buffer can disappear without any single stop feeling especially long.

What aid station time means in a 100K

A 100K may have fewer equipment changes and less overnight complexity than a 100 miler, but aid station time still matters.

The difference between 30 minutes and 90 minutes of stopped time is one full hour of movement. If the target finish remains 16 hours, that hour must be recovered somewhere on the course.

That does not mean the runner should force every stop under an arbitrary limit. It means the plan should recognise whether 30 minutes, one hour or more is realistic for the stops and tasks involved.

What aid station time means in a 100 miler

In a 100 miler, the number and complexity of stops generally increase. Darkness, changing temperatures, crew access, drop bags, foot care, food fatigue and equipment changes can all make later stops longer than early ones.

Three hours across a 100 miler may be completely reasonable for one runner and unnecessarily long for another. The correct number depends on the race, the runner and what has to happen at each checkpoint.

The useful question is not whether three hours is good or bad. It is whether those three hours were anticipated and whether the remaining 27 hours provide a realistic movement plan across that particular course.

Not every aid station needs the same amount of time

Giving every checkpoint the same stop allowance is simple, but it rarely reflects what will happen during the race. A water refill and a gear change before night are not the same task.

Planning different stop types also makes the total more believable. You may move quickly through several checkpoints, spend longer with crew before nightfall and need another deliberate stop later for food or foot care.

This is a better plan than pretending every checkpoint will take five minutes and then being surprised when a major stop takes twenty.

A longer stop can save time

There are times when leaving an aid station quickly is the wrong decision.

A hot spot that can be treated in five minutes may become a blister that slows you for hours. Taking time to eat can be more useful than leaving quickly without enough fuel for the next section. Adding a warm layer before an exposed night section may prevent a much larger problem later.

If something needs attention, deal with it. Do not ignore a genuine problem simply to make the stop look efficient.

Race medical advice, mandatory gear requirements and immediate safety always come before a planned stop time.

The hidden time around the stop

The visible part of an aid station stop is the time spent inside it, but there can be additional time around the edges.

You may slow down while approaching as you look for crew, remove bottles or decide what you need. At a large checkpoint, you may need to find your drop bag, locate a toilet or walk between the timing point and the assistance area. When you leave, it can take time to settle your pack, finish eating and return to your normal movement.

This does not mean every second must be measured. It means the real cost of a stop can be slightly larger than the number you remember from the chair.

Why later stops tend to grow

Early in an ultra, most runners can explain exactly what they want, find it and leave. Later in the race, simple decisions can become surprisingly difficult.

You may arrive cold, hungry, sleep deprived or mentally flat. Food that looked perfect before the race may no longer be appealing. You may need to change the plan because the weather, your stomach or the race itself has changed.

This is also when the chair becomes most persuasive.

Sitting is not automatically a mistake. Sit when there is a reason to sit. Change your shoes, work on your feet, eat properly or take the time needed to solve the problem in front of you. The danger is sitting without a clear purpose or departure point simply because moving again feels difficult.

Plan the job before you plan the time

Instead of starting with “five minutes at every checkpoint”, start with what needs to happen.

For each important aid station, consider:

• How much food and fluid is needed for the next section?
• Will bottles be refilled or swapped?
• Is there a planned clothing, shoe or lighting change?
• Is a drop bag available?
• Will crew be present?
• Does the runner need to leave carrying mandatory equipment?
• Is the toilet likely to be part of the stop?
• What can be prepared before the runner arrives?
• What can be done while walking after leaving?

Once the job is clear, assign a realistic amount of time to it. A stop plan such as “refill both bottles, collect the prepared food bag, put on the head torch and leave” is much easier to execute than “stop for five minutes”.

Make the simple parts simple

The easiest aid station time to remove is usually not time spent doing something important. It is time spent searching, deciding and explaining.

Know what you need before arriving

Use the final part of the section to check your food, fluid, clothing and any developing problems. Arriving with a short list is easier than standing at the table trying to remember what you wanted.

Prepare crew for the stop

Tell the crew what is expected at each checkpoint before the race. Give them enough information to prepare the likely food, clothing and equipment without asking twenty questions when you arrive.

The runner still needs to be able to change the plan, but the normal stop should not have to be invented from scratch.

Organise by checkpoint

Keep the supplies for each checkpoint together and clearly labelled. A neatly packed car is not necessarily an efficient race setup if the next head torch is underneath six tubs of unrelated gear.

Give the stop an end

Know what “ready to leave” looks like. Bottles full, food packed, required gear collected, immediate problem dealt with, move.

A crew member can help by confirming the important jobs and giving a calm departure cue. The idea is not to push the runner out before they are ready. It is to prevent the stop continuing after everything useful has been completed.

Practice the stops that matter

You do not need to rehearse every aid station like a Formula One pit stop. It can be useful, however, to practice the stops with several moving parts.

Try changing into night gear, restocking your vest from a drop bag or swapping bottles when you are already tired. This can reveal small problems that are invisible while packing at home.

Can you find everything in poor light? Are the food bags easy to open? Does changing socks take longer than expected? Does the vest need to be unpacked to refill it? Does the crew understand which items belong at which checkpoint?

The objective is not to chase a record in training. It is to replace guesses with a realistic plan.

Protect your cutoff buffer

Aid station time does not only affect the finish. It moves every later departure and reduces the buffer against every cutoff that follows.

If you reach a checkpoint twenty minutes ahead of plan but then spend twenty-five minutes longer than expected at the stop, you have not left five minutes ahead. You have left five minutes behind.

This is why departure time is often more useful than arrival time. Arrival tells you when you reached the checkpoint. Departure tells you when the next section actually began.

If a cutoff is based on departure rather than arrival, this distinction becomes even more important. Always check the current race rules because cutoff definitions vary between events.

Where Track3D Race Planner fits

Track3D Race Planner lets planned stop time sit inside the same race schedule as the course, checkpoints, cutoffs and target finish.

Each planned stop affects the checkpoint departure and every later part of the race. That makes the accumulated cost visible before race day rather than discovering it while chasing a cutoff.

The plan can also distinguish quick checkpoints from the stops where you expect to meet crew, use a drop bag, change equipment or spend more time dealing with food and feet.

Course-Aware Pacing then distributes the available moving time across the actual terrain instead of assuming every kilometre costs the same. If additional time is assigned to aid stations while the finish target remains unchanged, the movement required across the rest of the course has to change.

The point is not to produce a perfect number for every stop. It is to make the trade-off visible while there is still time to build a realistic plan.

A practical aid station strategy

Common aid station questions

How long should I spend at an ultramarathon aid station?

There is no universal time. Passing straight through may take almost no time, a straightforward refill may take only a few minutes, and a major equipment change or stop to solve a problem may take considerably longer. Base the time on what needs to happen rather than forcing every checkpoint into the same allowance.

How much aid station time should I allow in a 100K?

Start by identifying the number and purpose of the stops. Add the expected time for quick refills, crew stops, drop bags and any planned equipment changes. The total should be included in the 100K race time rather than added as an afterthought.

How much aid station time should I allow in a 100 miler?

A 100 miler often needs more stop time because the race may extend through a full day, night and into the next day. Later stops may include lighting, clothing, food, foot care and crew decisions. Plan those differences explicitly and leave some flexibility for the problems that cannot be predicted.

Should I sit down at an aid station?

Sit when it helps you complete a necessary task or deal with a real problem. Changing shoes, treating your feet or eating properly may be easier while seated. The risk is sitting without a clear purpose and allowing the stop to continue simply because getting up feels difficult.

Do aid station stops count towards race cutoffs?

Yes. The race clock normally continues while you are stopped. Some checkpoint cutoffs may also require you to leave by the stated time rather than merely arrive. Confirm the exact rules in the current event information.

Is faster always better?

No. Leaving without enough food, water, mandatory equipment or protection for the next section can cost far more than the minutes saved. The aim is to complete what genuinely needs to happen without allowing the stop to drift after that work is done.

Plan the stop, then run the race

Aid stations are there to help you finish. They give you a place to refuel, reset, collect equipment, meet your crew and deal with problems before they become worse.

Use them.

Just remember that every stop remains part of the same race clock. Decide what each important checkpoint is for, allow a realistic amount of time and understand what that does to the course that remains.

Get in, do what you need to do, and get moving again as quickly as the circumstances allow.

Open Track3D Race Planner

Related guides:
How to Plan Your Race Day for a 100K or 100 Mile Ultramarathon
Ultra Marathon Crew Checklist