What to Carry for Hill, Trail and Fell Running

The hills and trails offer beautiful, scenic and exhilarating running. But as this often takes us to remote and exposed places, we need to be mindful of what to take with us – too little and we could get cold and hungry, too much and we'll be carrying a miserably heavy bag.

If you're getting into the sport from a road-running background, please be aware of the safety requirements of running in mountain terrain. Try not to go alone, or if you do, make sure someone knows where you are running and when you expect to return. Plan your route carefully, and have a bad-weather-route lined up should conditions get rough. Even here in Britain, the mountains can and do claim the lives of unprepared walkers and runners – don't let it happen to you. Safety warning over ;-) the hills and trails are very rewarding running ground, so read on, be prepared, enjoy the views and HAVE FUN!

Of course, having the correct kit is also essential for safety and comfort. The considerations are many, and the factors variable. Experience gained from running in the hills will help you over time to be more in tune with your own needs of what to take with you. This article is to help you make some of those choices and point you to some of the best kit out there to enjoy getting off road.

This article covers what to carry. You can find advice on what to wear here, choosing trail running shoes and choosing fell running shoes.

Fuel / Race Safety Kit List / Backpack or Waist Bag?

Running Nutrition for Energy

This obviously depends hugely on how far you're running, and then what to eat and drink is also very much a personal preference. Weather is also a factor – British summer and winter can vary 30° or more(!) On a hot summer's day, after running uphill, you're going to be more thankful of a drink at the top as you enjoy the view. We still obviously need to drink in the colder months, but our needs can be less.

As a general rule, if you're running for more than an hour or so, you'll probably enjoy it more, and and you'll get less tired, if you have a drink with you. Once you get over 2 hours you certainly need to drink, plus to avoid 'bonking' you'd be wise to take on carbs and electrolytes in some form. Gels, chews or bars are the most popular. They're easy to carry and are formulated to digest quickly into your system, in order to provide energy quickly. If you're not a fan of the various forms of sports nutrition out there, fruit is a great alternative – dried is least messy and smaller to carry.

If you're out there for hours doing ultra-marathon training then, depending on your metabolism and digestion, it's time to possibly be thinking of solid food. What our stomach can handle in 'solids' when we run will vary massively for all of us, so definitely experiment to find that balance of what you can digest whilst on the move, with what you can still run strongly on. For some of us it will be sports bars, dried fruit, bananas, fruit/choc cake or just extra gels or chews that we know work for us over shorter runs. It could be worth trying to include some protein if you're going very 'long and slow'. For more information, see the Hydration & Dehydration Guide.

Essentially it's whatever works for you – the main thing is to have what you'll need with you if you don't want to drink from the streams or get cold and hungry! When going to the hills it's usually good to pack an extra gel/bar/chew/sandwich of choice as an emergency ration. Or if you are someone that just drinks when you run, take something with you as an emergency ration that you hopefully never need.

See below for how to carry your supplies...

Shop Gels / Shop Chews / Shop Drinks / Shop Bars / Shop Bottles

Race Safety Kit List

If you enter a fell or trail race you'll find that there are now stricter mandatory kit requirements than before. These kit lists have been drawn up with safety a priority so also give a good guide to the essential kit runners should take to the hills with.

Following are examples of items that you might be expected to carry with you as kit requirement for a race – and as such are sensible to adopt for training runs too. These items are especially relevant when heading to the hills on longer runs, but can be adjusted for length of run, weather, time of year etc.

Headtorch
Map and compass
Whistle
Emergency blanket
Waterproof jacket and trousers (with taped seams and hood to comply with race kit lists)
Emergency rations
Spare thermal layer
Hat/cap/gloves

Backpack, Hydraton Vest or Waist Belt?

Fast and Light is generally a hill runner's mentality, but distance and weather obviously play a factor in the size of bag you might need. You'll also need to consider how you'd rather carry things – around your waist, or on your back. The more expensive bags offer extra compartments so you can divide your kit up, or offer pouches for water bottles. Read on to learn more about the different possibilities...

If you're going a shorter run in good weather a waist pack is usually fine for capacity. They can hold around 500ml of liquid in a soft flask if that's your preference. These clever bottles are great for running – they compress as you drink, so you don't get the ‘sloshing’ sound you do with a regular bottle, plus once empty you can store them away easily. You just need to consider if you'll be happy unzipping the pack every time you want a drink.

Backpacks start from 8L up to 32L and all of the packs we stock can hold a drinks bladder. For most runners keeping it under 15L in size should be fine to carry enough kit, food and water for even a longer run in the hills. However, most of the larger bags have compression straps to ‘squish’ the bag in when it's not full. So if you only want one pack and would sometimes have use for say a 20L, you can usually compress it with 10L or so inside and still have a nice stable load.

If you're venturing into Mountian Marathons, then for most 20L is the minimum size, with 25L plus being the more 'comfort' option kit wise. Some runners will still prefer to carry a hand-held bottle with any other clothing or rations in a bag.

The other detail to check is the side pockets, as the number varies from pack to pack. If you'd like to have food, map, gloves, phone etc. to hand without taking off your pack it's worth paying attention to these. We stock a wide range of backpacks from Montane, OMM and Salomon across different sizes.

Hydration vests (also known as hydration packs or race vests) are increasingly popular. This marvellous piece of kit has been developed by some of the top ultra distance trail runners on the planet and are now used throughout the field in all races. They're also valuable in training when you don't have an awesome crew as back-up to keep you fed and watered.

The beauty of them is their ability to spread the weight of your load, by carrying drinks bottles and other essentials such as nutrition, map, gloves, phone etc. on your front. This allows instant access to a variety of pockets and saves considerably on time.

The range available is now quite large, with storage capacity going from a small 2L upto 12L and accessible liquid from 2.5 L to 4.5L. All the brands now include soft flasks which is a massive improvement in comfort from the bulky hard bottles they launched with. They should fit snugly, more like an item of clothing than a pack. They come in a range of sizes, just like clothing.

You're welcome to visit our store with your kit and try on our various packs for size, fit and feel with the weight you'll be carrying. We'll happily help with advice too.

Shop Waist Packs / Shop Backpacks / Shop Hydration Vests