What to Carry on a Long Run: A Distance by Distance Guide

The right amount to carry on a long run is the smallest amount that still keeps you safe, fed and able to get home. Carry too little and you bonk twelve kilometres from your car. Carry too much and you spend two hours fighting your own kit. Here is a practical guide by distance.

Up to 10 kilometres

Take nothing, or almost nothing. Under an hour you do not need fuel, and unless it is very hot you do not need water either.

• Keys
• Phone, if you run alone or in the dark
• A card, for coffee

A slim belt or a zip pocket covers all of that.

10 to 15 kilometres

Now you are over the hour. Add water if it is warm, and one gel if you are running hard.

• Everything above
• One gel
• 150 to 250ml of water in summer

15 to 25 kilometres

This is where carrying starts to matter, because you are out for ninety minutes to two hours.

• Two gels, taken at roughly 45 and 90 minutes
• Water, or a planned route past a public tap
• Phone, keys, card
• Sunscreen if you are out after 8am

A storage belt handles this comfortably. A vest is more than you need on the road.

25 to 32 kilometres

Marathon training territory. Assume two and a half to three hours on your feet.

• Three to five gels or equivalent
• Electrolytes, not just water
• Phone, keys, card
• A light layer if you started before sunrise
• Anti chafe balm, applied before you leave rather than carried

Marathon distance and beyond

At this point the honest answer is that you should be practising exactly what you will do on race day, including which aid stations you will use.

• Your full race nutrition plan
• Electrolytes
• Phone and identification
• A small amount of cash or a card

What Australian conditions change

Heat and humidity

In a Brisbane or Perth summer, water stops being optional at about the 45 minute mark. Plan a loop that passes a tap or a servo rather than trying to carry three hours of fluid on your body.

Sun

A long run between 9am and 4pm in an Australian summer needs sunscreen, a cap and ideally sunglasses. This is not fussiness, it is the highest UV index of any populated country.

Distance from help

If your long run leaves suburbia for a trail or a coastal path, carry identification and tell someone your route. Mobile coverage disappears quickly outside the cities.

How to carry it without noticing it

Weight carried at your centre of mass is barely noticeable. The same weight on your arm or in your hand is very noticeable within twenty minutes. That is the whole argument for a belt over an armband or a handheld.

Wear the belt high and snug across the top of your hips, tight enough that you can just fit two fingers underneath. Spread the load rather than letting everything sit in one lump on one side. Then forget about it.

A quick rule of thumb

If you are going out for under an hour, a race belt is plenty. Between one and three hours, a storage belt. Beyond three hours, or off road, a vest.

What TEMPO makes for this

The CARRY Storage Belt is built for exactly the one to three hour window. Phone up to 6.9 inches, keys, cards, gels, all held still on a wide low profile band. It is $49.

For shorter and faster sessions, the PACE Race Belt carries a bib and two gels and weighs almost nothing, from $32. Add the Sip Clip to either one when you need water on board.