In honor of the upcoming LA Marathon, Laura wrote a great post yesterday about running tips and how to survive that crazy long run. She’s run 4 LA Marathons since we moved here ~7 years ago and every year she decides to do it we all block off our calendars and start planning our street team plans.

These are my tips for how to support your favorite runner.

Plan your parking:

• Make sure you have your car parked correctly the night before. Street closures for marathons are no joke. Once the streets start closing it will be impossible to move your car across the route so be mindful of which side you want your car parked on.
• This is EXTRA important if you are dropping your runner off at the start line. You have to be sure your car can get to the start line so be careful to look at the route from your house (or hotel) to the start line and where the street closures will be along it.
• Pick spots along the route that also have easy parking (grocery stores with big lots are great) and be sure to wear comfy shoes yourself in case you need to walk a bit from parking to the route.

Plan your route:

• Pick out a few spots along the route that are equipt with easy parking (see above) and are far enough apart that you have time to beat your runner to the next stop. Believe it or not, with street closures and traffic, they might just beat you while moving on foot!
• Figure out if you want to be at the finish line. For the LA marathon, we usually don’t actually cheer her across the line because the foot traffic in that area is crazy and we always miss her. Instead, we meet her at the family meet up area which they have split up by letter (be sure to discuss if you are meeting at first name or last so you don’t end up at A while your runner goes to meet you at Z – we’re lucky that her names (L and K) are close to each other!)
• Parking at the finish line is insane. Plan extra time.
• Talk to fellow street teamers and friends. You can always split up the stops to cover more ground and take care of your runner at multiple points.

Packing for your Runner:

• A few of Laura’s favorite items for us to carry for her:
  • Extra pair of shoes (it’s a long trip, she might need to switch!)
  • Extra socks
  • Bandaids
  • Sunscreen
  • Snacks she likes (PB sandwiches, Clif bloks, and bars)
  • Fully charged external battery
  • Icy towels!! (this is a game changer, take a hand towel you don’t care about, soak it and put in the freezer the night before, give it to your favorite runner on the hottest part of their run and they can throw it away once it melts)

What to bring/wear yourself:

• Comfy shoes, you’ll be walking a lot! You may even want to run a bit alongside your runner to distract them for a bit and keep the route interesting.
• Snacks for you! – my fav snacks here
• Sun protection: sunscreen, sunglasses, a light jacket 

How to Track Your Runner:

• Sign up for the marathon tracking alerts. Sometimes these work and sometimes it’s off, be sure to plan a backup. We’ve used the “find my friends” app in the past.
• Chat with your runner beforehand. Depending on what she’s doing on the run (podcasts, books on tape, etc) and how she’s carrying her phone, calls might be better than texts.
• I always try to give Laura a heads up on what our route will be so she knows where to look out for us. We also like to try to surprise her at least once and sneak in an extra stop 🙂
• If you can get in contact before your runner gets to your next stop, find out what items they need at the moment so you can have the sunscreen ready or the snack unwrapped, you can’t waste any time when there is a marathon to run!

And of course, don’t forget to take a photo! 🙂