Aid Station Planner: Ultra Arrival Times & Cutoff Margins

Free aid station planner for trail ultras. Get your arrival time at every aid station, your margin on each cutoff, the latest safe departure and what to carry out. Printable crew sheet.

Access

  • Free, no account: the summary (finish time, time at aid stations, tightest cutoff margin) and the first two aid stations.
  • Free account required: every aid station and the finish, the latest safe departure from each station, and the fluid and carbohydrate to carry out of each one.
  • No paid subscription is needed for any part of this tool.

The full crew sheet is computed server-side and only returned to a request carrying a valid signed-in session.

How It Works

  1. Upload the race GPX (waypoints become aid stations) or enter distance and elevation gain
  2. List the aid stations from the race guide: kilometre, cutoff, crew access, drop bag
  3. Enter cutoffs as elapsed time (26:30) or as clock time with the race day (day 2, 02:00)
  4. Set your goal finish time and the start time
  5. Get the crew sheet, and print it

The Model

Your goal time is split into the minutes you stop and the time you move. Stops default to 3 minutes at a basic aid station, 6 where crew can meet you and 10 at a drop bag, inside the goal time. Moving time is spread along the course by grade-adjusted effort, using the Strava-aligned GAP curve, so a kilometre at 15% gets nearly twice the time of a flat one.

Outputs

  • Arrival clock time and elapsed time at every aid station and the finish
  • Margin on every cutoff: comfortable, tight (under 8% of the cutoff or 15 minutes) or missed
  • Latest safe departure: the latest you can leave and still reach the next cutoff at the plan's pace
  • Fluid and carbohydrate to carry out for the next leg

Limitations

The planner does not know about heat, altitude, night or fatigue, and it plans the goal you give it rather than predicting one. For a realistic finish time, use the race time predictor first.

FAQ

What does latest safe departure mean? The latest you can leave an aid station and still reach the next cutoff, moving at the pace this plan expects on that stretch.

Should I enter cutoffs as elapsed time or clock time? Whatever your race guide uses. Switch on clock times for guides that publish "Saturday 02:00".

Links