Tips and Advice for 24-hour Challenges

I have been researching 24-hour challenges all day and here are some of the tips and advice I have picked up along the way. Thought I'd share here for others to use. Have not yet decided which one but it's between two in the state of Virginia. These are NOT my ideas. I have scoured all over online to find these tips....I have created hot links to give proper credit to some of the ideas. 

* 5/1 ratio is recommended over a 25/5 ratio. Much easier in the end. 
* The total running that you do is not much longer than your longest continuous training run or race
* For the race, use caffeine to stay awake at night, and don't use any for a month before the race, in order to increase its effect.
*  Timex Ironman Triathlon watch which has an alarm feature that can be set to go off repeatedly at five and then one minute intervals
* For 24 hours it appears that the best runners to 10-20% more miles in the first half than the 2nd half.
*  I would say start out with a plan to run for 30 mins. then walk for 10 mins. After 12 hours or so (assuming the race starts sometime in the late morning or noon), maybe switch to a shorter turnover between walking and running, doing 15 mins. run and 5 mins. walk.
* If you can get good sleep the 2 nights before the race you will be way ahead
* Make sure you have sufficient clothing to stay warm at night when you are moving slow and your body temperature drops because you are supposed to be asleep
* many of the (what i thought to be) soloists were going with 2 water bottles and a small under-saddle mounted pack
* be sure to size up a 1/2 size in the shoes and have an extra pair on hand for the 2nd half maybe in a drop bag along the way or with your crew. 
* Back to back weekend long runs are huge however. 20,25,30 on sat. Followed by another 20-25 on sun 
*  Bring along first aid medication and tools and treat your blisters and chafing before they start becoming a problem
*  A timer with alarms set according to your planned pacing is going to help a lot.
* It can be helpful to break down the day into more digestible morsels and set your run/walk strategy accordingly. You can for example take it 30 minutes at a time and set a 25-minute run to 5-minute walk ratio
* Shoes should fit right which normally means, at least half an inch of room in front of your longest toe!  So, when you get fitted for a shoe, there should be no contact anywhere between your forefoot and the sides and front of the shoe  and there should be at least half an inch of room in front of your longest toe of your “longer” foot!  For people with wider feet, you could need slightly more than half an inch of room!
*  “make an hourly food plan with enough calories, water, and electrolytes to meet your needs,”
* No matter how good or how bad you feel, it won’t last,’” says Rusch. “Knowing this keeps me in check when I feel great and helps me push when I feel terrible. You will feel both. And you won’t be the only one.”
* Learn to eat a lot while moving.
* Take care of small problems before they become big problems. Fix little hotspots and blisters before they progress. Stay ahead of dehydration.