It's almost race time so that means it's time to put together my race pack and food. I love this side of the preparation process and it's always fun for me to think about and optimize my gear. I feel very confident that I have a great set of gear that is both light, functional and sufficient to support a good race.
This is my third multi-stage race so it has been easier to decide what to take based on my previous experiences and the testing that I did in my
blocks. To see the evolution of my gear you can go through my previous posts showing what I took with me in the Atacama Crossing in
2012 and
2013.
First up, a look at my race clothing and the non-food contents of my pack.
My race clothing is shown in the photo below and followed by a list with all the details of what I'll be wearing. Anything with an "(R)" after it means that the item is included on the mandatory required gear list.
 |
| My clothing for when I'm running each day. |
- BV Sport socks
- Raidlight gaiters
- Hoka One One Mafate 2 shoes
- Compression shorts
- Lafuma SpeedTrail tee shirt T Zip
- Garmin 310Xt, Heart Rate Strap, Footpod
- Desert hat (R)
- Oakley Pro-M Sunglasses (R)
In my pack is the following gear. A lot of it is shown compressed into ziploc bags to keep it clean and small for packing.
 |
| My pack and the non-food contents. |
- PHDesign Sleeping bag (R)
- Thermarest NeoAir sleeping mat
- Overnight clothing (R) - Lafuma Speedtrail Tee, Shorts, Compression socks
- Buff (R)
- Earplugs
- Raidlight Olmo 20l pack (R)
- Waterbottles of at least 1.5l capacity (R)
- Blister kit (R) - elastic tape, paper tape, needles, alcohol wipes
- Spoon (R)
- Toilet paper (R)
- Wet wipes
- Alcohol gel
- Cooking pot (R)
- Jacket (R) - Lafuma SpeedTrail JKT
- Emergency gear (R) - mirror, whistle, space blanket, spare batteries
- Headlamp (R)
- Sunscreen (R)
Here's my food for the race. It's not all packaged for the race as this video is before I travel, but there aren't too many changes needed. The Ensure will go into ziplocs, my bars will be wrapped individually and I'll look to see if there is any other trimming or repacking I can do to reduce weight and volume. The race requirement is for a minimum of 2,000 kCal a day for a total of 14,000kCal during the race.
My food is about 3.6kg and close to 15,000 kCal for the week. It's made up of the following items.
 |
| Food for seven days in the desert. |
My pack weight will be a little over 6kg (before water) when everything is packed and ready for the race. I'm pleased with that weight as it is close to what I took to the Atacama Crossing this year, yet I managed to include a greater total number of calories. My pack comes close to 10-12% of my body weight which is the general guideline for seven-day multi-stage race packs.
If you have any questions or want any additional detail, please feel free to ask in the comments.
