1 person (with car).

1 person and a car is minimum.

I personally recommend two to three, as for one person it can be overwhelming. Imagine waking up at 2.30am driving the whole day, stopping every 10-15min getting out of the car, handing drinks, gels, clothes, etc., taking pictures, and at the end climbing a mountain. Not very fun.

If the action is spread over two to three persons it is much more relaxed and enjoyable, also for the athlete.

I had three, one driving, one of them taking pictures and videos and one for all the other stuff. Worked like a charm. Eventhough none of them knew too much about triathlon.

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2012: Norseman. I'm done.

when i read the athlete guide for laughs i read you need at least 2 + a car but maybe i misread... they also have to be 18+ years of age if i recall correctly

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You only have to have 1 , but i would agree that 2 or 3 would be best. It's a long stressful day for a sole supporter.

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It's only impossible if you stop to think about it.

You need one + a car.
BUT, it is better to have at least two. Being a crew is stressful especially if you are not familiar with the course. Also it can be hard to find parking at the beginning on the bike course, at T2 and at the gate to Gaustatoppen.
Having a pacer up zombie hill is also nice.

Just send me a PM if you have any questions regarding Norseman (course, where to stay, crew etc)

I would vote for 2+ crew minimum as well. Especially if you want multiple nutrition hand-offs without having to stop.

More important than the crew number, however, is to really go over your race plan in detail with the crew prior to the race - I had exact mile markers to look forward as far as crew location. It was interesting because we went with the "less is more" approach so I only saw my crew about 5-6x on the entire bike course and 3x on the entire run leading up to the base of zombie but others were stopping ever 3-5 miles on the bike and every mile on the run. I would be curious to see the strategy used by some of the leading guys.

The one thing I was disappointed to see this year was that there were a few cases where it was clear an athlete had more than one support vehicle (only one is technically allowed). On the bike, it's very interesting because you are riding in the same vicinity as the same 2 dozen or so people and so get very familiar with the support crews (both by their car/# on the car decal and seeing them on the side of the road). This was great because some of the other support crews would cheer you on each time they drove past but bad but you could also tell who had more than one car per athlete out on the road. This was kind of annoying since I ended up spending 6-7 minutes in transition waiting for my support team to get through the traffic.

It was also unique in that the crew was scoping you out each time you passed - likely to convey that info to their athlete. Each time I passed a competitor crew you can bet I was trying to downplay the pain and effort level! ;)

But otherwise outstanding event! My short & sweet summary of the day: http://maggierusch.com/...a-long-cruel-course/

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Rusch Racing | website | @maggieru | Instagram
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One thing I didn't realise, and that became apparent when watching this years Norseman, is that there is a car 'race' in addition to the triathlon.

I left Eidfjord about half an hour after the first competitors and drove at normal (meaning maximum possible) speed to Geilo. Yet I wasn't able to catch up with the leading competitors before Geilo (90 km). There was a traffic jam/queue all the way from Eidfjord to Dyranut. It was only after Dyranut that it was possible to drive at a normal speed, although having to brake every now and then when catching up with and overtaking cyclists.

The traffic problems might have been a special case this year due to special rules in one the tunnels. Due to rock fall in parts of the old road (race course), the cyclists had to use one of the longer road tunnels in the steep uphill section between Eidfjord and Dyranut. The race committee decided that no one was allowed to overtake each other in the tunnel - neither cars nor bikes. So cars and bikes had to keep the same places in the queue from the beginning to the end of the tunnel. As the cyclists were going dead slow up the tunnel, so the cars also had to go dead slow after whichever bike they were stuck behind.

I had a particulary slow cyclist a few cars ahead of me. Then suddenly I saw a couple of cyclists in the side mirror about to overtake me on the inside! These two cyclists were not only breaking the rule against overtaking cars(!) in the tunnel, but one of them was of course drafting on the other. (-;

The point is, the support crew need to jump into the car as soon as you have passed, and might not have a lot of time to find parking along the way. So having a second person as support can be helpful. T2 can be difficult for parking. So it could be handy having one person dropped off whilst the other looks for parking.

An alternative is to load up with sufficient food and water each time so that the support crew don't have to stop so often.

The no pass in the tunnel was a new rule this year. We went through the tunnel last year, but cars could pass us.
I will recommend that unless you are top 50 it is better to stop right after Dyranut. Easier to park and less crowded.
Also, the crew has to leave their athletes at the beginning of Imingfjell to get to T2 ahead of time. It is impossible to race after your athlete and pass him/her, park the car, and be ready at T2.

Driving through the course is recommended. Then the athlete and crew can understand that Norseman is on narrow Norwegian roads.

I was lucky last year. My brother knows the course really well, but even he said that the numbers of cars created dangerous situations.

Technically, you only need one support person and vehicle but my experience was that two people was best. It is a long tough day even for your crew, and a lot for one person to handle.

Any more than two and you either (a) need another vehicle for all your stuff or (b) you need a very large vehicle. There were certainly a number of athletes that had multiple support cars (although only one car is officially your support). I echo the comments about the congestion, and definitely wish that some of the athletes (and their support teams) had been more mindful of their footprint. I was slowed down several times by congestion on the road, including one instance on Zombie Hill where a van full of supporters slammed their brakes on directly in front of me!

That being said, the support aspect of this race is very unique and pretty awesome. It is like a long, catered training day where you get to choose your aid stations!

My blog post on the day in general:
http://www.richelef-lostintransition.com/2014/08/heia-norseman-2014.html


And the play by play reel:
http://www.richelef-lostintransition.com/2014/08/norsemanthe-gritty-details.html

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.