Gear for an unsupported 50 miler
Last weekend, Jënni and I participated in a race in the south of Sweden, called Sandsjöbacka Trail. I ran the 50 miles+, which was more like 90 k than 50 miles… Also, this race was more or less unsupported and required some navigation, which added to the difficulty. The fact that it’s traditionally held in the greyest and most unforgiving time of the year for this part of Sweden, didn’t make it any easier.
The race was extremely beautiful, and tough.
The race offered a dropbag at 33 k (way too early into the race to be of any real use), and the possibility to refill water and sports drink at 33k, 51k and 71k. And then you’d get food and energy at the finish at around 90k.
Everyone got a map and a GPS tracker, but there were no course markings, hence you’d have to find your way using the map and the GPX-file of the course.
So how do you plan and pack your race gear for this type of race? Below I’ve written about my thoughts before the race, how the race went, which gear I actually used and what proved to be unnecessary.
Hydration and backpack
My choice of hydration vest for this 50 mile trailrunning ultra race. 12,5 liter capacity is enough to carry all you need for a long ultrarunning race.
I used my Ultimate Direction Adventure Vesta 4.0, one of my absolute favorites with 12.4 liter capacity. I’ve been using the old Adventure Vesta for years, but finally got around to buying the new one. And I really love it! It’s slightly bigger than the classic Ultra Vesta 4.0 (10 liter capacity), and for this type of race when you need to carry lots of equipment, energy and extra clothes, it’s perfect.
When planning, I thought I’d need 4 soft bottles (500 ml each), but it turned out I only needed 2 filled bottles between each aid station. There were some natural streams (in case I’d run out of water completely) and also some public places where you could get water. When filling up the bottles the morning before the race, one of them turned out to be broken, so I’m happy I brought 4 of them. During the race I kept one extra in the back of my pack, in case I’d get really thirsty towards the end of the race, since this has happened a few times before.
From start, I had 1 bottle of water and 1 bottle of Maurten Drink Mix 320, but later on I only refilled with water. At the very last aid station they turned out to have some coke as well, so I had 1 glass of that to get a bit more energy before hitting the last 15k.
Technical stuff
It can be tricky to get your technical gear for an ultrarunning race right. The GPS-watch needs to have good battery life and on this type of race, it needs to be able to navigate as well.
Since there was no course markings, you had to have the GPX-file on your watch, and you also needed a map. I’ve been using the Suunto Ambit3 Peak for a while now (this is actually my third watch of the exact same model!), and in my opinion, this is one of the best “value for money” GPS-watches out there. This is an older model, but it’s till got everything I need and more. It’s got great battery life — it lasted all throughout my race at Diagonale des Fous which took 52.5 hours, without the need to charge it. But one of the major reasons I love this sports watch, is that it’s so accurate when it comes to measuring ascent and descent. Since I usually run races with much more ascent than this Sandsjöbacka Trail, which only turned out to be around 1600 meters of gain, this is an important feature. And of course it’s got heart rate monitoring and all of those other extra features you’d like to see in the companion on your wrist.
As it turned out, I didn’t use the map at all, and I didn’t have to use my power bank either. I did however use my Sudio Tretton earbuds for quite a few hours.
Headlamp Petzl NAO, and some gear needed to take care of toilet breaks during a long ultrarunning race.
As the mandatory headlamp, I used my well trusted Petzl NAO, which I’ve used for many ultra races before. I thought about bringing an extra battery, but in the end I decided not to. The battery life should be sufficient for all of the dark hours (which turned out to be about 5 hours in total during this race), but sometimes I like the extra safety.
Toilet paper, and a garbage bag from Ehunmilak 100 (it’s always nice to bring tokens from other races you’ve finished!). And the mandatory soft cup, since they don’t use disposable cups at the aid stations.
This is what my friend Emmy and I looked like before the start. I’m using the Petzl NAO and she’s using the Petzl NAO+, a later model.
Shoes
La Sportiva Bushido II and Akasha, the two models I brought for the race. As it turned out, I used only the Bushido II (to the left), since this race was known for it’s extremely muddy and difficult terrain. It’s one hell of a ultrarunning race — sometimes it feels more like tough mudder or the likes!
One of the most important things to get right, is which shoes to pick for this particular ultrarunning race. Depending on the surface of the track, the right shoe can mean a huge difference in performance. Previously, I’ve been using many different brands, not finding a favorite that gives me a good fit, enough support for a really long race and an outstanding grip. One of my skills as an ultrarunner is being able to run very fast downhill, and especially on technical and muddy terrain. Well, I need shoes that help me fly!
I’ve tried out Altra, Hoka one one, Inov-8, Merrell, Icebug, Asics, Saucony, Nike, Salming and many more, and for a couple of years I was in love with the Inov-8 Race Ultra — until they discontinued the model and didn’t develop a worthy substitute!
Nowadays, I run in La Sportiva, since this particular brand offers me the traction and grip I need to run fast downhill, in addition to a great fit for my feet. When I packed, I wasn’t sure which shoe I’d use; La Sportiva Bushido II (to the left), which is a little lighter and more responsive than the Akasha (to the right), but the fact that I hadn’t run longer than 10 hours in the Bushido, made me think twice. The Akasha has carried me on Diagonale des Fous for 52,5 hours and on Ehunmilak 100 miles, which took 45 hours — so I know I can run for a long time in these shoes! Ultimately, I decided to go for the Bushido II, which turned out to be an excellent choice!
My La Sportiva Bushido II to the left after the race, and Jënni’s shoes to the right (also La Sportiva Bushido but an older model).
My shoes during a nicer part of the race. Not so much mud around here, so you could actually see which brand you were running your ultrarunning race in!
Race kit
This is my race kit, i.e. the clothes I’m wearing from start.
From the top left: Socks in merino wool, at this point I hadn’t decided if I should go for Injinji toesocks or Aclima running socks, but in the end I used the Aclima socks. Supersonic Pant from La Sportiva, a long-sleeved undershirt in merino wool from Aclima (Woolnet Crewneck) and a shell jacket from La Sportiva that sports a lightweight gore-tex shell that is outstanding! The jacket is called Iliad JKT and weighs only 158 grams size S.
Underpants from Craft and a sports bra from La Sportiva that is originally made for climbing, not running, but I like it so much, I always wear it on races. Gloves from Smartwool, a skirt from Craft and a Pace on Earth tube.
Most of the race, I ran in the long sleeved undershirt, with an additional T-shirt on top (not in the picture). I used the gore-tex jacket a couple of times, and was very pleased with the breathability. It didn’t rain much, so I didn’t have to use it other than in the start and later during the day for protection against wind.
This is what I looked like before the start of this 50 mile ultrarunning race.
At one point, around 25k before the finish, my friend’s husband had set up his own support station (which was allowed during the race), and I refilled some water and brought along some more energy.
Mandatory equipment
To the left I’ve got my bag of extra clothes all compacted. To the right is my first aid kit.
I’m sort of used to races where the list of mandatory equipment is as ultra-long as the race itself… so for this race, the list was pretty ok.
Mandatory equipment
Map (distributed at the start)
Liquid for about 20K running
GPX file in your watch or your phone
Soft Cup or similar
Energy (at least 250 kCal)
Extra underwear shirt or similar
Extra shell jacket or survival blanket
Dauer or similar elastic bandage
Whistle
Cellphone with sufficient battery time
GPS unit (lent out at the start)
Headlamp
My first aid kit for ultrarunning races normally contains Blisswool for blisters, different kinds of band-aids and adhesive plasters, sterile wet wipes, elastic bandage, surgical tape, scissors, painkillers, salt, safety pins and a larger first aid bandage. Of course the size of the first aid kit depends on the length and difficulty of the ultrarunning race, but for ultra-trail races, I’d suggest you bring a bit too much safety gear than the other way around. Depending on the terrain, it may take a couple of hours for help to reach you, so always think of any emergency as a situation you should be able to take care of yourself.
This is what my bag with compressed clothes lookes like when unpacked!
When unpacking the compressed clothes, it seems I got a good few things into that bag. From the top left: extra shell jacket from La Sportiva, extra long-sleeved undershirt in merino wool from Smartwool, extra tube in merino wool (I’m on a Runstreak, you can buy it in our shop), extra super thin gloves, or liners, in merino wool from Smartwool, extra socks in merino wool from Aclima, plus extra underwear.
As it turned out, I didn’t have to open either of these packages during the race. When that happens during an ultrarunning race, I’m always happy, because it means everything went according to plan and I didn’t need my extras at all. However, I’m still grateful I brought all this extra stuff, since you never know when it can come in handy.
Energy
To plan your energy, was perhaps the most difficult aspect of the race. Since the dropbag was already at 33k (out of 90k in total), you had to bring everything you needed to eat during the latter part of the race from your dropbag. For breakfast I had a bowl of oatmeal, fresh blueberries and 2 cups of black coffee. The start was at 6 AM so just before the start I had a pre-packed baby-food pouch and some water.
My energy Intake During the day
0-33k:
4 cooked potatoes (very small)
1 Spring Gel (150 kcal)
3 Huma Gels (100 kcal each)
2 small packs of homemade sandcake (in the picture)
1 Maurten Drink Mix 320 (320 kcal)
2 tablets of BCAA
33-90k:
6 Huma gels (100 kcal each, some with caffeine and some with electrolytes)
2 small packs of homemade sandcake
2 cups of coke
1 Maurten Drink Mix 160 (160 kcal)
1 Oatly Mocha Latte (approx 200 kcal)
1 pack of Sting Energy Chews with caffeine
4 tablets of BCAA
2 salt tablets
So how did it go?
I’m super happy with this race, since I finished as second female. Most of all, I’m happy with the fact that I managed to get even splits, which is difficult when your legs grow tired towards the end of any trail ultra.
13 hours and 13 minutes, 2nd woman and 24th place overall out of 64 participants in the 50 miles+.
Please let me know if you would have thought differently about your gear! What would you have packed and why? We can all learn from each other to make our next ultrarunning race slightly better than the previous one. See you on the trails!
/Ellen
More tips
Read our article on how to get started with ultrarunning. It’s a great resource for any beginner!
A beginner’s guide to ultrarunningIf you’re curious about Ellen, one of our coaches, please read more here
Mental strategies for ultrarunning is also a good read for anyone aiming to run an ultra!
Are you interested in training for ultrarunning? Then you’ve got some good tips here too!
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