How to Plan a Group Trail Running Weekend

A group trail running weekend — a training block, a crewed long run, or an ultra with a support team — rarely comes undone on the trail. It comes undone at the first crew access point, when nobody packed the spare headlamp, two people drove to the same aid station, and the runner has no idea who is pacing the night leg. The running is the easy part. Coordinating the crew beforehand is the work.

This is a step-by-step guide to planning a group trail running weekend so your crew shows up knowing exactly where to be and what to carry — from mapping the route and aid stations to briefing everyone in a way you can confirm they read.

1. Map the route and mark every access point

The route is the spine of the weekend, and it cannot live only in one person's Strava. Plan it in the app you already trust — Strava, Gaia GPS, or CalTopo — and mark what the crew needs: each aid station, every crew access point a vehicle can reach, water sources, and any section runners should not be on alone.

Then share it in a form everyone can open. A raw GPX file in the group chat does not count — half your crew cannot open it, and a screenshot loses every aid station and access point. What people need is the route on an interactive map next to the rest of the plan, so a driver knows exactly which pullout to aim for.

2. Assign pacers and crew legs before race morning

A crewed run works when every leg is covered and nobody doubles up. Sort this before the weekend, not in the parking lot at 5 a.m.: which runner is pacing which leg, who is crewing which aid station, and who is driving between them.

Let people claim a leg or a station in one place so the coverage is visible. No more two pacers showing up for the same stretch while mile 30 goes uncovered, and no more a driver guessing which access point is next.

3. Coordinate gear and nutrition so nothing doubles up

Shared gear is where crew weekends come up short. Three people pack gels; nobody packs a first-aid kit or the pop-up shelter. Fix it with a single shared list where each person claims what they are bringing.

Split it into shared items — headlamps and spare batteries, drop-bag supplies, the shelter, first aid, extra bottles — and the personal kit each runner owns. When people watch the list fill up in real time, the gaps are obvious. For the broader version, see our group gear checklist guide.

4. Settle the open decisions with a quick vote

Every group weekend has open questions: the start time, which loop to run, breakfast in town or fuel on the go, where everyone is staying. Left in a group chat, these become forty unread messages and no decision.

Put each one to a simple poll and let the crew answer. You get a clear call, everyone feels heard, and you stop chasing replies. For why a chat is the wrong tool for this, see why your crew needs more than a Google Doc.

5. Brief the crew — and confirm they read it

The briefing is the whole point, and it is the step most weekends skip. Your crew should open one link and see everything: the route, the aid stations and access points, who is pacing and crewing each leg, their gear assignments, and the answers to the open questions. No accounts, no app to download, readable on a phone before dawn.

The part people miss: you want to know they actually read it. "Did everyone see the plan?" is unanswerable in a group chat. A briefing page that shows who has opened it lets you nudge the two people who have not before they show up without a headlamp for the night leg.

A simple pre-weekend timeline

• 3–4 weeks out: lock the route, set the dates, confirm the crew.
• 2 weeks out: assign pacers and crew legs, open the shared gear list.
• 1 week out: run the polls, close the open decisions, finalize lodging and the drive plan.
• 2–3 days out: send the briefing link, confirm everyone has opened it, chase the stragglers.

Do it all in one place

You can run this out of a Google Doc, a spreadsheet, and three group chats — plenty of crews do, and it mostly works until race morning. The Dirt Brief exists to put the whole brief on one interactive page: your GPX becomes a live route map with aid stations, the gear list updates as people claim items, polls settle the decisions, and engagement tracking shows who is actually prepared. Planning a trail run or ultra crew specifically? See the trail running group planner. Your first trip is free with every feature unlocked.