What is reasonable to expect at aid stations

Race

Hey y'all! With some of the recent posts about DT, I was wondering what is reasonable to expect at aid stations? I have only run one trail 1/2 marathon and one trail marathon so far. I'm signed up for my first ultra next month.

My half and marathon were through a small local Colorado/ Utah company and I was not that impressed. The marathon had one bathroom at mile 5 and ran out of water at an unmaned aid station about mile 18 in the Utah heat. The unmanned water station was something I knew might be an issue going into it, but only one bathroom at mile 5 and nothing else for the rest of the marathon wasn't something I learned about until 5 minutes before the race started. ( I had scoured the race website and looked for reviews ahead of time for all the info I could find on the race.) It all was rather off-putting and unprofessional to me, but I didn't know if that's normal?

For reference, my ultra the end of next month is with Aravipa. So far the information given ahead of time is much better and it seems like there'll be a lot more support and supplies at aid stations.

Thanks in advance for the insights!

Posted Apr 9, 2025, 8:21 PM UTC

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