A drop bag and a crew do different jobs
A drop bag is a small bag you hand to the organiser. They move it to a named place, and you open it there. A crew is a person who meets you on the route and may hand you things, but only where the rules allow it. A pacer runs or walks with you on a permitted section. Plenty of races offer one of these and forbid the others.
Read the rule before you pack. A finish-line bag is not a drop bag on the course. A spectator at the start is not a crew. If the page does not mention drop bags, do not assume a checkpoint will accept one.
The races in this directory do not share one rule
These notes come from the organiser pages checked on 3 October 2026. Use them to see the pattern, then open the current instructions for your own entry. A waiting list, a sold-out price and a 2026 results page are separate questions.
| Race | Crew and pacers | Bags |
|---|---|---|
| Hundred Hills 50K | No crews and no pacers anywhere on the route. | Parking is at the start. A finish bag can be left at registration if you have no car. The page does not describe bags delivered onto the course. |
| South Downs Way 50 | No crews and no pacers. Friends may join the last lap of the track. Spectators must not use the checkpoints or hand anything over. | A finish bag of up to 50 litres can travel from Worthing registration to Eastbourne. No course drop bags are described. |
| Thames Path 100 | Pacers from Henley at mile 51, one at a time, on foot. Crews only at the points on the organiser’s crew page. | Drop bags at Henley (mile 51), Goring (mile 71) and the finish. Each bag no bigger than 50 by 30 by 30 cm. Collect them by 15:00 on Sunday. |
| South Downs Way 100 | Pacers from mile 50, one at a time, with a pacer bib. One crew vehicle, a crew pass, and only the listed points. | Drop bags at Washington (mile 54), Housedean (mile 76) and the finish. Same size limit. The page says collection at the finish is 08:00 to 12:30. |
| Race to the King and Race to the Stones | The main 2027 pages do not set out crew points. | Both say a bag is transferred to your finish. Parking and shuttles cost extra. Confirm the start and finish of your package. |
| Thames Path Ultra Challenge | The organiser supplies a marked route, food, drink and people on the course. The event pages used for our profile do not set out crew rules. | Bags are not covered on those pages. Ask the organiser before you plan one. |
| MDS Legendary | This is not a crew-access race in the road-ultra sense. | You carry your food and kit. Water and the tent are supplied. A suitcase can be left at the technical check and collected afterwards. |
| Montane Winter Spine | Unsupported. Cafes and pubs on the route are allowed. Pacing, planned support and a private vehicle following you are not. | Your resupply bag waits at the main checkpoints, along with hot food and somewhere to sleep. Use the race information pack for the checkpoint list. |
- Hundred Hills 50K 2027: crew, bags and kit
- South Downs Way 50 2027: crew and finish bags
- Thames Path 100 2027: pacers, crew and drop bags
- South Downs Way 100 2027: pacers, crew and drop bags
- Race to the King 2027: bag transfer
- Race to the Stones 2027: bag transfer
- Thames Path Ultra Challenge 2027: event page
- MDS Legendary 2027: what you carry
- Montane Winter Spine 2027: support rules and checkpoints
- Open the race profiles
Pack for the gap, not for the fear
Start from the next section of the course, not from a wish to carry every spare. If you will reach the bag in daylight and leave it in daylight, a second headlamp does not earn the space. If the next section crosses sunset, a dry layer and the light you are required to carry from that point do.
Useful drop-bag items are the ones you will be glad to change or refill and that you are allowed to leave behind: a fresh pair of socks, a small amount of the food you have already practised, a charged battery if the rules allow it, and the layer the weather now suggests. Put the mandatory kit you must carry the whole way in your pack, not in a bag you might miss.
Label every bag with your name, number and the exact drop point. Centurion asks for a different bag for each point. One bag does not tour the course and come back to you at the next village.
If someone is meeting you, give them a job list
A crew plan is a list of places, times and jobs. The place has to be one the organiser allows. On the Thames Path 100 that is not “anywhere after halfway”. Pacers start at Henley, and only one person may be with you at a time. On the South Downs Way 100 the pacer needs the bib issued at registration, and the crew vehicle needs the pass in the window.
Write down what they may hand you and what they must not. Then write the backup: the last time they should wait, who they call, and where they go if you are late or have stopped. A crew that cannot find the access road is not support. Give them the organiser’s crew page, not a summary from memory.
If the race bans crews, do not ask a friend to stand at a checkpoint with your spare bottles. The South Downs Way 50 page is explicit: spectators must not hand a runner anything except encouragement, and they must not attend the official checkpoints.
Try the awkward bits before race day
On a long run, stop, open a bag, change your socks and eat, then start again. Time it. The point of the rehearsal is the fiddly minute, not the heroics. If a friend is crewing, meet them once in training at a normal car park and practise the same jobs you will want on race day.
Check the collection rule before you put anything precious in the bag. The Thames Path page says drop bags left after 15:00 on Sunday will be disposed of. The South Downs Way 100 page gives a 12:30 finish-line deadline and does not name the calendar day, so confirm that in the final instructions.
Check the rules once more before you travel
Use this after you have the current instructions for your edition. The ticks stay in this open page. The print button gives you a copy to keep with the crew list.
A tick is a reminder. If the organiser changes a meeting point or a collection time, the printed list is out of date until you change it.
Sources & further reading
Written by Running for Good Ultra from organiser pages checked on 3 October 2026. The examples belong to those editions. This is not a report of crewing a race, and a race can change its crew points after this page was written.
- Hundred Hills 50K 2027: crew, bags and kit
- South Downs Way 50 2027: crew and finish bags
- Thames Path 100 2027: pacers, crew and drop bags
- South Downs Way 100 2027: pacers, crew and drop bags
- Race to the King 2027: bag transfer
- Race to the Stones 2027: bag transfer
- Thames Path Ultra Challenge 2027: event page
- MDS Legendary 2027: what you carry
- Montane Winter Spine 2027: support rules and checkpoints
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