To say this was a spectacular adventure is truly an understatement. And... as any great adventure... there's always a learning curve for next time! The following are some thoughts based on casual conversations with Runners with Sole:

1) Determining Costs: When recruiting runners for an RTB relay team, it seems prudent that the team captain have an approximate cost of the event. Everyone agreed that it's possible to do the RTB on a shoestring budget, but the team issue at stake was finding an agreeable balance between what's affordable and the level of comfort/quality of the running experience.

2) Actual Costs: The average cost per runner for our 12 person team (4-days) renting two 12-passenger vans, race day food, accommodations (Thursday and Saturday nights), gasoline, race registration, etc. was about $450. The greatest expense was the 2, 12-passenger vans - a total of about $1400.

3) Van Size: Most agreed a 12-passenger van was the most desirable form of transportation (vs. a mini van of any size) because of its abundance of space that was quickly eaten up with gear, stretched out, sleeping and tired runners, food, etc. - especially if it rains!

4) Van Drivers: Having non-runners function as team van drivers was invaluable! The driver should be familiar with the course and help organize and execute the needs of his/her runners during each leg of the race (e.g., hydration needs at certain mile markers). Having drivers truly made the RTB experience grand for our runners because it was hard enough to manage our individual requirements - eating, drinking, resting and running! The only expected expenses for each driver was about $25 for community food and the cost of their respective accommodations.

5) Team Self-reliance: Each team/van should be self sufficient with food and water. However, traveling off course makes it possible to find needed supplies. At many of the TAs and VTAs there was food for sale by not-for-profit groups raising money. The food was good, but not always great on the digestion track for endurance running. Essentially, being self reliant is mostly a time saver - but I think it's worth the effort.

6) Community Food: I tried to provide a variety of food that would offer carbs, protein and fun. I provided 5-gallon water jugs and Gatorade. Most of us seemed to have upset stomachs most of the trip and I think this was largely due to mild car sickness which made eating somewhat of a challenge. In van #1, most of the food was eaten; Van #2 had the opposite experience.

- Water Jugs: Good idea -. they took up less space then cases of water; bad idea - they rolled all over the van. About 7 gallons per van seems reasonable.
- Bland Food: Bland food seems most desirable. Turkey, tomato, mayo, Pop-tarts, Gatorade, bagels, cream cheese, assorted chocolates, drinkable yogurts, pasta in light oil or mayo, and some sodas. Things that are hard to digest should be avoided, including spicy foods, red meat, etc.
- ICE: I froze water in many Gatorade bottles, paper milk containers, large plastic containers, etc., and the ice kept coolers cold for 4 days.
- How much food: It is very tempting to take too much food - I think more is always preferred to not enough. Not knowing the eating habits of the team is tricky and complicated by unknown individual runner eating habits under the distress of an endurance run.
- I think there is value in having each van decide upon their own menu/food to pack for the race.

7) Personal Food: I encouraged runners to bring their own drink/carbs used during training to run with on the RTB.

8) Traveling along the RTB Course: Each van hop-scotched their own runners to some degree. They always followed the course legs for their 6 runners. Van #1 - bad choice: when not running legs, Van #1 drove to VTAs to rest by way of the RTB running course. This caused excessive driving time which could have been halved by taking non race course roads - it also resulted in too much sitting/driving time for runners. For example, when traveling to the VTA for sleep at 1:00 AM, it took us 2.5 hours to drive 36 miles! We lost valuable sleeping time by following the race course. Van #2 - Good choice: Van #2 took alternative routes to VTAs to rest, etc., and saved themselves tons of driving/sitting time.

9) Resting/Sleeping: Getting some amount of rest/sleep is critical. Consider this a camping trip. Bring compact sleeping bags and pads. Bring a freestanding tent large enough to cram 6-7 teammates into in case it rains. I cooked coffee and some omelets on a small camp stove the morning after our sleeping experience. I managed to get 1Hr/15min of sleep in my bivy sack and air mattress.

10) Cell phones: Despite being told cell phone reception is nonexistent in some stretches of the course, we had no problem communicating between vans. Most brought cell phones and each van manual had a list of each person's cell phone numbers.

11) Walkie Talkies: These devices were incredibly helpful at night when trying to spot runners entering the TA. With fog, the darkness of night, etc., it was most difficult to pick out our teammates. We had 2 teammates with one device about 100 yds down the road who radioed to the our team at the TA when our runner was spotted. At night, runners approaching their TA used the team's "cuckoo" bird sound to alert the runner on deck about the approach. Using pink glow sticks on our forearms was not useful when trying to spot our runners at night; they weren't bright enough. However, it is worth considering some unique form of light to wear to spot incoming runners more effectively.

12) GPS Watches: Warren, Jeannie and I had Garmin GPS watches (201 and 205) that functioned with perfection - which is not always the case depending on cloud and satellite coverage. Not having course mile markers and first hand experience on the course made the GPS invaluable in terms of getting (mile) distance alerts, total distance, pace and average-pace info as we ran.

13) Thursday night registration BBQ ($15 pp): Great idea... I wouldn't miss it. This was the first time we were all together as a team. Food - average. Free Sam Adams (3 tickets per person which was more then enough for most; folks were giving their tickets away) - excellent!

14) 12-passenger Van Seating: We took the first row bench seat out before leaving for NH. The theory being, folks in the middle of the van could stretch out, food would be readily accessible, etc. After the fact, it's clear that those sitting in the last row were sure to get motion sickness, and those in the middle were less likely to have it. Next time, I think we should remove the last bench seat to store gear/food. This should greatly reduce the experience of low grade, chronic motion sickness which which most folks in Van #1 experienced.. Van #2 also had the great idea of having the runner who last ran sit in the shotgun seat next to the driver.

15: Emergency Runner Information: Although not used, each runner and driver completed a medical and emergency contact sheet. This included basic medical and family contact info, but also their insurance company name, ID number and phone number on the back of the card. Some ran with Road ID.