What does 'unsupported' mean?
By Julien on Thursday, February 11 2010, 12:54 - Thoughts - Permalink
As I start to plan more carefully the Thames Source Quest (TSQ), I'm wondering what approach to take in terms of support. Interesting definitions of 'unsupported' are provided on trailrunningsoul.com [1] and Fastest Known Time [2]. The main disagreement seems to be related to water supply.
Unsupported
This really means no external support at all from any human being and therefore carrying all the supplies the whole way, except what can be obtained from natural sources. Water should only be obtained from natural sources according to [2], but could be supplied externally according to [1]. That said, the definition of a 'natural source' of water is not as obvious as it seems. If a spring in the mountains is natural and a free tap next to a river lock is not, what about a pipe draining the water out of a spring? I would say natural, but I can understand some would disagree. Food could potentially be harvested from natural sources too [1].
[1] prohibits the usage of phone calls, but surprisingly reckons that being offered a shelter and water is acceptable. The position of [1] here lacks a bit of coherence and seems biased towards classifying the Marathon des Sables as unsupported, which I cannot agree with. With all due respect to the toughness of this race, I can hardly consider unsupported an event where tents, water and medical crew are waiting for you every night.
Furthermore, a valid issue pointed out by [1] is how to react to local by-passers offering water, food, shelter or whatever else. It would be rude to refuse...
Self-supported
This means that no support team is following the runner. However, it is possible to grab whatever is on the way, including buying in stores or hide supplies in advance [2] (as at least one team did during the PTL last year). This is what I've done (for the water only) during my solo London to Brighton run, and this is also the spirit of the PTL. Because nothing is black and white, [1] also differentiates between several forms of self-support, the most permissive one including a crew following loosely the runner. I'm not too interested in that, so I won't discuss it in more details.
Supported
A team is following the runner the whole way to provide food, drink, spare clothing and all other needs.
As a summary, I would consider 'unsupported' the following:
Open for debate.
Ultra unsupported
Unsupported
This really means no external support at all from any human being and therefore carrying all the supplies the whole way, except what can be obtained from natural sources. Water should only be obtained from natural sources according to [2], but could be supplied externally according to [1]. That said, the definition of a 'natural source' of water is not as obvious as it seems. If a spring in the mountains is natural and a free tap next to a river lock is not, what about a pipe draining the water out of a spring? I would say natural, but I can understand some would disagree. Food could potentially be harvested from natural sources too [1].
[1] prohibits the usage of phone calls, but surprisingly reckons that being offered a shelter and water is acceptable. The position of [1] here lacks a bit of coherence and seems biased towards classifying the Marathon des Sables as unsupported, which I cannot agree with. With all due respect to the toughness of this race, I can hardly consider unsupported an event where tents, water and medical crew are waiting for you every night.
Furthermore, a valid issue pointed out by [1] is how to react to local by-passers offering water, food, shelter or whatever else. It would be rude to refuse...
Self-supported
This means that no support team is following the runner. However, it is possible to grab whatever is on the way, including buying in stores or hide supplies in advance [2] (as at least one team did during the PTL last year). This is what I've done (for the water only) during my solo London to Brighton run, and this is also the spirit of the PTL. Because nothing is black and white, [1] also differentiates between several forms of self-support, the most permissive one including a crew following loosely the runner. I'm not too interested in that, so I won't discuss it in more details.
Supported
A team is following the runner the whole way to provide food, drink, spare clothing and all other needs.
As a summary, I would consider 'unsupported' the following:
- Water can be obtained from natural sources only, like [2].
- Food must be carried or obtained from natural sources only, like [1].
- Shelter must be carried (tent) or natural shelters must be used.
- Phone calls are prohibited as they offer mental support, but sending out SMS about your progress is acceptable... as long as you don't read the answers :) .
Open for debate.
Ultra unsupported
Comments
Hi.
I wrote that article in trailrunningsoul.com, and first, sorry for my poor english, and second I agree with you even with some contradictions with what I wrote. The english version is shorter than mine (spanish, ser13gio.blogspot.com/200...) but 95% is the same.
Unsupported is unsupported. There's nothing to discuss. But in racing is almost impossible to do in some environments. I 'agreed' (with some reserves) to define 'unsupported' to Marathon des Sables alike races cause they invented these kind of races and give minimum support; I mean, without water supplies you cannot run in the desert for a week, you can walk with a trailer -some people did it- but you cannot run and make a race, nobody can run with 50kg in a backpack, it's not running. It cannot be called 'unsupported', for sure, but this part of the sport was born with the Marathon des Sables rules and I accept that definition.
In what I call 'personal projects' I am 100% sharp on 'unsupported' definition. I made some short trips running or mountain biking and I know when I was unupported or not. For example, I crossed more than half Mongolia on mountain bike and I was unsupported until I had to make a call without my phone to tell family everything was OK. It was not for me, was for them, but I don't say I did it unsupported for those two minutes. But few times locals offered me some food (and I gave them some mine) and if I wouldn't accept it, for me, it would be rude: someone that gives you something with a huge hospitality and is rejected for a "stupid definition of a pseudoadventure" do not fit to me. I'm visiting a foreign country and it's a pleasure for me sharing things with locals, I can live without 'unsupporting' mind if needed. That's what I tried to say, if someone -and you don't ask for- helps you (a little, of course) is unpolite reject it, and if it's not decisive, is OK from my point of view. Once in Mongolia, it was a 8-year kid who offered me a yoghourt (I guess it was), I thought not accept it, but come on, it would be a trauma for the boy...
In my 'self-supported' definition there many possibilities as I experienced in many races or routes, resupplies in half (Rock and Ice Ultra), resupply in every stage (Himalayan Stage Race), left hide deposits (for personal mountain runs) and others. For me, the most important is saying how you did it, not only what you did, because, for example, is not the same carrying water for 10 than 20km, it's 2kg more (Marathon des Sables vs Libyan Challenge); or a route I did in which my girlfriend drove a camper, I had assistant only at the beginning and end of the stage (50km daily), it's not the same than having three possible 'pit-stops'. As in alpinism, we have to say how we do things to give others the information to understand how the challenge was.
It's like non-stop. What's non-stop? Running without stop. Nope. When do you say something is non-stop if it's not in a race or trying to beat a record? 20 consecutive marathons is non-stop when you stop less than what, 1 hour, 2, 10 hours per marathon? We have to say everything, not what we want to, I'm reading too many stupidities about unsupported and non-stop challenges, and all of us who 'played' the game of unsupported know how tough and cruel can be to use it so easily, it's very serious.
Regards,
s
The good thing with the Thames Source Quest is that you have a large natural source of water all along! Whether it is a good idea to use it is another problem :)
Hi ser13gio,
Thanks a lot for your detailed answer, it's great to discuss these kinds of topics! I think I understand better your point of view and where you are coming from now. I just wanted to add that if it's impossible to run in the desert unsupported, then so be it.
And you are definitely right when you say that we must say everything when undertaking a challenge. I think this is a key point. This is because whatever you do, there will always be ambiguities, your run/race will never fit perfectly in one or another category. It's a matter of honesty towards others, but equally importantly towards yourself. After all, ultrarunning is a lot about "exploring your limits", and you won't reach the same limits when running unsupported or with the help of a crew.
All the best
Nice related debate on the West Highland Way Race forum, as reported by John:
www.johnkynaston.com/2010...