The Unspoken Heroes of the Ultra Running World

A Heartfelt Thank You to Those Who Wait, Cheer, and Carry Us Home

After every ultra, we thank the volunteers — and rightly so. They are the heartbeat of every race: standing in the cold at aid stations, handing out water, soup, and smiles that keep us going.

But there’s another group of people we often overlook — the ones who wait in the dark, drive through the night, and hold us long after the finish line. They are the unspoken heroes of the ultra running world: our supporters.

The other side of the race

In the UK, most ultra trail races don’t allow crews. Instead, we have supporters — loved ones who stand by from afar or along the course, watching, worrying, and waiting.

As runners, we live so deeply inside our own experience. We have to stay laser-focused — because if we’re not fully present, things can go wrong quickly. But in that tunnel vision, it’s easy to forget the quiet endurance happening just outside our own race.

While we’re out there running through forests and darkness, our supporters are out there too! Awake for 15+, sometimes 24+ hours, driving up and down winding country lanes in the cold, waiting for a brief glimpse of us, refreshing patchy GPS trackers that lag behind by miles, watching us move through pain and exhaustion, and not allowed to help — not even hand us a bottle of water — because rules are rules.

They see us at our lowest — the raw, gritty parts no one posts about. And when the race ends, they collect what’s left of us: salt-streaked faces, stiff legs, hollowed-out shells of determination. They wrap us in warmth, feed us, hold us, drive us home, and somehow still tell us they’re proud.

The moments that carry us

I can’t put into words what it feels like to see my loved ones out on the course — even for a few seconds. That tiny moment changes everything.

It’s the quiet fire that keeps me moving forward:

“If I just keep going a little longer… I’ll see my love again soon.”

During my last race, those seconds of connection became lifelines — proof that I wasn’t alone, even in the loneliest miles.

A heartfelt THANK YOU

So this article is for you — to my partner, my friends, my supporters from afar, to the volunteers who make every checkpoint feel like a small miracle, and every other supporter who’s ever stood in the rain, waited in the dark, and helped another runner chase their dream.

It’s only now that I truly understand how difficult it must be: watching us battle in pain, unable to step in, holding your breath as we stumble past.

You are the unspoken heroes of every finish line, and of every story that doesn’t quite reach one.

Thank you for the warmth, the patience, the love — and the quiet strength that makes this wild sport possible.

Because ultra running might look like a solo sport from the outside — but behind every runner, there’s always someone waiting in the dark, believing in them.