Michael: Forbidden or Frowned Upon?

The earth rich powder
Brewed into a deep black heat
Warms the morning soul.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Many ultra races require that participants carry specific gear and/or hydration carrying capacities, though in all my years of trail racing I’ve only been checked for mandatory gear once. That was in Costa Rica last year when at the midway point of the Cerro de la Muerte 50k I was asked to show my jacket and headlamp.

I have no grievances with these requirements for the most part, though for short races over moderate terrain, I tend to believe these should serve more as guidelines than hard and fast rules. But I would hate to show up for a race and have a hard nosed race director yank me because I was only carrying one bottle as opposed to the mandatory two. But I’m kind of dense so it can take me a little while to find the smack myself on the forehead work around.

For example, in July I’d like to run in the inaugural Santa Barbara Endurance Marathon. They’re requiring carrying the capacity of two 20 ounce bottles. But the race starts early, doesn’t look that difficult, and has 5 aid stations.

Ah ha! It took me a long enough to realize that there is some wiggle room  between “carrying capacity” and actual carrying. I can easily carry a collapsible 20 oz. flask collapsed in my svelte race pack along a  20 oz. hard flask I’ll use for fluids. That way I’m meeting the requirement for “carrying capacity” without lugging along the extra fluid. But I’ll have the capacity  on hand in case it becomes unbearably hot and/or they require me to fill up.

I’m sure many runners have used this cheat long before it smacked me upside the head. I’d be curious to find out if any race directors actually feel the heft of bottles and bladders to make sure people are meeting the hydration requirements.