Nobody Finishes An Ultra Alone

At 2am at Cheltenham Racecourse, my dad was making toast and coffee in his VW camper van for two exhausted runners while children slept in tents beside the course.

This weekend we supported my brother in law Tom, and his brother Liam, in their first ever Backyard Ultra Marathon organised by Red On Events. I'd never experienced anything like it before.

For anyone who doesn’t know, a Backyard Ultra is simple but brutal. A 4.1 mile lap, every hour, on the hour, until there’s only one person left standing. Miss the next lap start time and you're out. There was even a tactical division where runners wore 10kg weighted vests for every lap. The final runner this weekend completed 61 laps.

Tom completed 26 laps, over 100 miles, finally finishing Saturday afternoon. Liam completed 16 laps into the early hours of Saturday morning. Just seeing what the human body and mind can do when pushed that far was unbelievable.

But honestly, what stayed with me most wasn’t even the running.

It was the atmosphere.

The start and finish line became the centre of everything. Two huge marquees held the athlete info boards, lap tallies, clocks counting time, and the hand bell runners rang when they could no longer continue.

Around the outside were rows and rows of support tents, gazebos, camper vans and cars. Every runner had their own little support station. Fresh socks, trainers, jackets, carb powders, electrolytes, drinks, snacks, dry clothes all lined up ready for the next lap. Support crews stood waiting at the finish line with puffer jackets, drinks and encouragement ready before the runners had even stopped moving.

Me and Rich were helping my sister Jess support Tom, while Lucy was supporting Liam. My dad somehow became head of coffee, hot chocolate, toast and jam operations throughout the night.

The girls, Amelia and Ily, hadn’t seen each other in almost a year and instantly became inseparable. They spent the day doing cartwheels, climbing in and out of Pop’s camper van, running around the field, and just being proper kids outdoors. Around 8pm I zipped them both into sleeping bags together on the bed in the back of the support tent while darkness settled over the racecourse.

Then everything changed.

The temperature dropped to around 3 degrees. Head torches came on. Everyone suddenly had woolly hats, massive coats and thick socks on. The support crews waited through the darkness for each lap to finish, checking spreadsheets and timing every detail. Electrolytes. Carb powders. Small amounts of protein. Quick carbs. Toast and jam. Refill bottles. Dry layers ready. Repeat again in an hour.

Watching the runners was impressive.

Watching the support crews all night was something else entirely.

At one point we ran out of hot chocolate and asked another support crew if they had any spare. Even though technically everyone was “competing” against each other, they immediately handed some over without hesitation.

That sense of community honestly caught me off guard. In a world where everyone feels increasingly disconnected, people were helping complete strangers survive through the night.

What also struck me was how different everyone’s food needs were depending on their role.

The runners needed fast digesting carbs, electrolytes, sugar and simple fuel they could tolerate while running through the night.

But us support crews? We needed something completely different.

By the middle of the night I’d eaten nearly a full box of M&S chocolate coated swiss rolls while trying to stay awake and warm. I was absolutely freezing, exhausted, and craving a proper meal. Something hot. Something filling. Something real.

And honestly, that’s when it hit me.

If I’d realised how much crew support we’d actually be doing, it would have been the perfect setup for our Nutritional Edge meals. We had a small camping stove and saucepan there already. We could have warmed meals up throughout the night between laps. Proper protein, carbohydrates and real food to keep us warm and sustained instead of living off sugar and caffeine.

By 3am we finally tapped out ourselves after sending the boys back out for another lap, before returning again around 9am the next morning.

The first thing I did?

Cook a proper breakfast.

Eggs, bacon, sausage, beans and toast. Full spectrum fuel to actually support us properly while supporting them.

And I think that’s the biggest thing I took away from the weekend.

Nobody performs well for long without support.

Not runners.

Not parents.

Not business owners.

Not women carrying everyone else through the week.

The runners may cross the finish line, but there are always people behind them helping them keep going.

If having proper meals ready makes life easier during busy weeks, long nights, stressful periods or moments where you’re carrying a lot, that’s exactly why Nutritional Edge exists.