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/u/becauseineedone3 , I'm being lazy and going the copy pasta route. I had a similar question a couple months ago and wrote out a long reply with thoughts and tips and such, and I'm pasting it below. Feel free to ask questions, PM or tag me, I'm more than happy to help.



So, I've done the Bourbon Chase in Kentucky for 4 years, this Fall will be my 5th year. We are a mix of people who know each other from college and random internet strangers we've picked up along the way (on reddit and elsewhere) and our now good friends with. It's a lot of fun, and we've got a pretty good system down for doing the event successfully. I'm just going to start listing things out in no particular order...just how they come to mind...

• Probably the most important thing I tell people is to take real food. It's totally fine to take cookies and chocolates and things like that, but you will be living mostly out of a van for 30-some hours...you're going to want and need real food. Peanut butter and a loaf or bread is great. We usually have a cooler and ice in the van, and we took a cheese tray last year, and that was nice to have some fat and protein to snack on. One of the guys last year brought tuna in tear open pouches, and I'm totally stealing that idea. I love tuna, and it's a shelf stable protein...it was a great idea. Just think through food and what you can take that will actually sustain you. Depending on your van timing, you can probably get in one sit down meal if you want...but a lot of meals and snacks will be on the go.
  
• Have a paper copy of the leg maps and van driving directions (where they differ) printed out and in a binder for each van. It depends on where you're running, but there will likely be places where cell signals are weak or not available at all...don't rely on your phone only for maps...print them out.
  
• At some point, somebody is not going to feel well, or be in a bad mood, or something...you're all packed in a van for 30 hours, not eating normally, not sleeping normally, and not running a normal schedule...sometimes things may get a little tense. If a teammate needs a little space or whatever, just be patient and understanding...it happens...whatever it is, just try to be understanding and let things go.
  
• Designate a wet seat in the van. At an exchange, you're going to have a sweaty runner who needs a place to sit while you drive to the next exchange. Just pick one seat in the van to be the wet seat and make sure the runner that just finished sits there until they have a chance to change into dry clothes.
  
• Go meet your runners at the exchanges. Sometimes it's a long walk, or sometimes you're sleepy and don't feel like going out in the middle of the night, but make an effort to go out and see your runners come in...it's nice to be greeted when you finish.
  
• Do everything in your power to not miss an exchange. You will see runners get to the exchange zone, and no one will be there to hand off to...and they'll have to wait around. You don't want to be that team...make every effort to be early. If you have time to kill for whatever reason, kill it once you get to the next exchange...don't just assume it'll only take 10 minutes to get to the next one and then you get stuck in traffic, or construction, or whatever...and then you're late. When in doubt, be early.
  
• Make a list of things to take for each van and share with all your runners. We've been using a google doc that everyone has access to so people can sign up in slots to bring things we need for the group...it works well for us to keep track in one place.
  
• I prefer to pack in a few different smaller bags rather than one suitcase. I put food in a backpack, my running clothes in a small duffle bag, my hotel things for before and after in a different duffle. I find it easier to look for and deal with a specific smaller bag than jumbling everything up in a suitcase. Also, not everyone does this, but I got some funky designed duct tape and wrapped a bit around the handle of each of my bags. That way, when I'm digging through the back of a van at 3am, and everyone has black duffle bags, I can look for my duct tape and make it easier to find.
  
• Rent a bigger van. If you have the option between say a 12 seater and 15 seater...get the bigger one. It is absolutely worth the extra money to have more space.
  
• Depending on your race rules, you may be required to have 1 reflective vest per runner. You do not need to spend the money to get 12 vests that are made for running. You will be fine with 2 running specific vests per van, and then cheap construction vests for the rest. We've borrowed safety vests from one of our runners who works at a manufacturing plant...they have to wear them on the plant floor. You don't want to run in those, but they're fine for passing the race safety requirements.
  
• I like to pack each running outfit together in a gallon ziplock back. When I finish a leg, I change into fresh running clothes for my next leg, and then throw a something comfy over the top of that. Then I take the sweaty clothes, and put them in the ziplock and seal it up. I also bring something like this along for my dirty clothes. Put in a ziplock, and then put that inside the dry bag, and it does a decent job of containing the smell of stinky clothes. The van will probably not smell great as the weekend goes on, but doing stuff like this will help.
  
  My stream of consciousness is running out...I've probably rambled on for plenty long enough :) Feel free to ask me more questions if you have anything. I think these relay runs are a lot of fun. Running is usually such an individual sport, that it's fun to do something like this where you have a team and are working together. It's a great time to do something that is just totally different than what you normally do with running.