Mandatory kit for Ultra Trail Snowdonia (UTS) 50k - May 2023 (unofficial, I don't agree with UTMB!)

[@debbieboothroyd2420]

Really great video! FYI - you can carry poles 3 different ways on the Salomon Adv Skin 12 without the quiver, using the detachable elastic loops that come with the pack.

[@wildgingerruns]

Oh thanks Debbie I will defo check that out, it was just a first glance at the pack and on the MMM I didn’t take poles so didn’t check then.

[@andrewjknoxuk]

Thanks for this video Claire, really useful! See you in Llanberis 😀

[@wildgingerruns]

Thanks Andy! See you soon! Eeeek!

[@YuennyLam]

Thanks for sharing. I've watched the race video - well done!! I've signed up to do the 25K version next year, so this has been helpful.

[@wildgingerruns]

Awesome, have you seen the race film here? It's the 50k but useful to get an idea of the terrain and busyness of the race, have a blast on the 25k! It's a beautiful course. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYXbqqiYetyaoaM and also these top tips for the 50k also apply to the 25k or any trail race really! kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6q4n6Jjecd9hrM Good luck! Claire

[@trailrunningforlife]

Great meeting you out there Claire! I was the guy trying to figure out when and where the elite's presentation was starting on Friday. I wasn't subscribed, but have been enjoying your videos since. This kit list rundown of yours was extremely thorough. Nice work, I can see you put a lot of research/effort in! I was also initially confused about the elastic bandage, but also found a very similar one to yours. Well done on getting around the course and finishing. It was a lot of fun, despite the heat!

[@wildgingerruns]

Great to meet you too! Glad you found the kit list helpful, it was a little confusing wasn't it, glad you liked the race in the lovely sun!

[@CraigRowand]

All the best for the run Claire!

[@wildgingerruns]

Thanks Craig! You too!

[@arleenm7367]

Good luck Claire!

[@wildgingerruns]

Thanks AM! Let’s see what happens…

[@irenemolina-gonzalez8946]

Thank you so much for posting the video is very helpful even for the 100K course! You may be able to help me with that, but I'm having problems downloading the app. I have an iphone and also live in the UK, but for some reason it says that the app is not available in my country or region 🤷. I've emailed the organisers, but just wondered if you had any issues

[@wildgingerruns]

Hi Irene, you're not alone, everyone in the FB group is also reporting issues with the app, so I am sure they will be on to this and sorting it asap before the start, it's not just you. Have a great race I hope you have a good one! :)

[@trailsandbeers]

The whistle on the packs are useless, for a few quid you can get a proper one that is loud and might be heard if you need to use it.

[@wildgingerruns]

Yes they are a bit crap aren’t they, I wonder why they bother if it’s not going to be a half decent one!

[@demonischuk]

Look forward to seeing you there; I am excited for the run. Not looking for a fast time, just a fun day out, amazing views and an expierence :) The hardest parts IMO will be descending the Pyg trail and 2/3rd of the way up the second ascent (it is between the Wakins path and Rhal Du path, not sure what the route is called, but I recce it and it involved scrambling)

[@wildgingerruns]

Oh fantastic I love scrambling, this will be my fave bit if I have any energy left on lap 2 of Snowdon lol! Looking forward to seeing you there! Say hi!

[@johningham1880]

Dare you to do the race in Marigolds

[@wildgingerruns]

Ha ha ha! On my hands or on my feet… 😂

[@jamstaa69]

Just wondering.. as you've mentioned waterproof trousers.. totally agree, and will be taking mine ( mad not to, to go up a mountain!).. but this is something I missed first read a while ago.. the waterproof trousers becomes mandatory on the cold weather kit, but that as well as the full legged covering (non waterproof) in the normal list.. are you sure your joint full leg cover/waterproof trousers are ok?

[@wildgingerruns]

Sorry not to make that bit clear, if the cold weather kit is activated I’ll wear long leggings and take waterproof trousers, I think that’s ok, am I right? That’s what I was thinking to do anyways…

[@brentlatham5529]

@@wildgingerruns So you have to have a pair of leggings with you regardless of hot or cold weather. So I guess if its hot you will be wearing shorts with both your leggings and your waterproofs in your pack. If its cold then you will be wearing your leggings with your waterproofs in your pack...and hmm if its raining and cold you will be wearing both leggings and waterproofs :)

[@kingsley6236]

I would always recomend taking a bag AND blanket. The blanket is great to signal your location with. As Claire says, it can flap around in the wind, a really useful thing to be spotted with. Oh and tampons are a great thing to carry incase you fall and really badly cut yourself, they do their job well!

[@wildgingerruns]

Agreed!

[@andrewstorm8240]

8:03 boiling hot day

[@wildgingerruns]

It defo was! :)

[@jamstaa69]

Thanks Claire.. great video.. and now I have noticed I've missed the requirement of a spare battery.. ARGH! my worry has now moved from my shoes to my old head torch I can't get spares for, especially on a bank holiday weekend.. Now have two replacement head torches with spare battery hopefully getting to me before Friday.. stress level 10/10. I've commented on the group, and some have pointed a second torch would be accepted instead of a spare battery for the 50K ( so i'll get one this weekend just in case).. but makes me nervous as its not in the list.. so if they don't come.. hopefully i'll get there before they close on the Friday. gone from mildy nervous to so stressed. argh!

[@wildgingerruns]

Tag the organiser Mike in your FB comment and he should reply, logically I would have thought a 2nd back up torch rather than spare battery for main torch would be fine but I don’t make the rules. As long as both are 200lumens it hopefully would be fine 😬

[@peterseager6970]

Thanks Claire. Excellent vid. And thanks for the heads up on the torches. I am training for OCC and was planning on taking a rechargeable torch plus power pack. This model can be charged whilst in use, but to be safe, I will take another. Good luck on Snowden 👍😀👍

[@wildgingerruns]

Nice one Peter, glad to help you, hope your race goes super well!

[@hannahbazley3626]

Interesting that no mention of a compass but they recommend a gps watch. Different viewpoint from every trail race I've done, albeit they've mainly been unmarked.

[@wildgingerruns]

Yes, strange isn't it, I think it's the UTMB influence :)

[@edenmol4005]

can you sue portable battery for phone?

[@wildgingerruns]

Do you mean use? Yes, fine to take a portable battery but a spare headtorch or headtorch battery is required in addition according to the 2023 kit list. Hope that helps, Claire

[@edenmol4005]

@@wildgingerruns yeah thanks for reply great videos!! been watching fair few

[@brianogrady9883]

Best of luck!. Look out for my brother-in-law Owen Fenton from Wexford, Ireland. He's doing the same distance

[@wildgingerruns]

Wonderful! Tell him to come say hi, and good luck!

[@inglover]

Thank you for this. See you at the start, also had very disrupted training so might be chasing cut offs with you! 😁

[@wildgingerruns]

Excellent, let's see that sunset on the last mountain before a jog down then! ;)

[@earthwormtrisify]

Pole carrying can be done in 3 different ways on the Salomon vest. Plenty of videos on the tube for it

[@wildgingerruns]

Oh thanks Tristan, will check that out, it was just a cursory glance on the pack

[@wk633]

maybe three 'official' ways. I've gone through a few more figuring out what works for me :-)

[@wildgingerruns]

@@wk633 Cool! You should do a film and share it, would be handy :)

[@wk633]

@@wildgingerruns I'll leave that to people who are better at it! I will describe the two solutions that work best for me. I also have the Adv Skin 12 (although unisex, looks like you have the women specific which has lower bottles). I also have Harrier poles (the adjustable now, pros coming soon but that's a long story). I also have a Salomon quiver. My problem is that the quiver is just a bit tight for the baskets on those poles, and it takes some significant 'wiggle' to get the poles in and out. One thing that works is the poles horizontal across my lower front. I use those two waist ties to make loops. The other way, which I ended up using for Canyons 100k, is the quiver on my front left shoulder. That made it a lot easier to get the poles in and out, although they still got kind of stuck. I also used a long springy hair band to hold the bottom of the quiver steady so it didn't bounce around. I find hair bands super handy in general for pack stuff. I also use a hair band to hold my folded poles together when folded. I put it around the handle, and over the two other segments. When I want to use them, I just slide the 'joint' of the lower two segments out of the band.

[@petraalma29]

Would deffo get a pair of waterproof mittens to wear over your gloves in case the weather is both cold and wet. Obviously some people suffer more from cold hands than others and maybe you don’t. I get terribly cold hands and if I don’t keep them warm enough I cannot even open food wrappers which can be pretty serious in the mountains if you cannot get your nutrition in.

[@wildgingerruns]

Yes defo that’s the plan! Marigolds was just a lil joke 🤣

[@BruceJackson-SEOCoach]

Marigolds DO meet requirements for CCC & UTMB (in FB Group for UTMB this was discussed) - and are actually better than you would expect if you have a good wool or silk liner glove. Totally waterproof - and you never wear them for more than a few hours - so sweat shouldn't be a problem.

[@wildgingerruns]

@@BruceJackson-SEOCoach Ha ha excellent, I didn't need them after all in the boiling heat of Saturday, but good to know! I do know that mountain instructors sometimes wear them so they do fulfil a certain role in the mountains!

[@virus3run20]

did they check all of your items ?

[@wildgingerruns]

Just 2 at random, on Lakeland 50 they check it ALLLLLL :)

[@andreafluffkitten]

Good luck with the UTS, hope it is fun.

[@wildgingerruns]

Thanks Andrea! Hope you have a great weekend!

[@ChristianPoultonRuns]

Thanks Claire, that was very informative. I totally agree with you about both carrying a bivvy bag and waterproof trousers. Good tip for the makeshift Sahara hat too! See you on the start of the 50k if I can sort out my alternative travel arrangements by then.

[@wildgingerruns]

Hope you can make it there CP so annoying about the trains for you!

[@ChristianPoultonRuns]

@@wildgingerruns the ultra running community are such a wonderful bunch. I’ve been offered a lift from London so all is good now and I only need to stress about the race itself 😂

[@wildgingerruns]

@@ChristianPoultonRuns How did you get on Christian? So sorry not to have seen you there!

[@ChristianPoultonRuns]

@@wildgingerruns I was an hour slower than I had predicted, although it was difficult to predict. 09:26:35 finish time. The heat was a little brutal and I should have carried slightly more water as I ran out after CP3 and should have had some salt tablets. I felt quite nauseous at the finish. I was ok once I took some salt. I did look out for you but probably just missed you coming in. Well done 👏 better than you had predicted! I’m looking forward to seeing your race video. A wonderful race. Toughest race that I’ve ever ran I think but I still enjoyed it.

[@wildgingerruns]

@@ChristianPoultonRuns Wow that's an incredible finish time even if it was an hour longer than you thought, I bet on a less sunny day you would have, those conditions were so tough! I really enjoyed the race, was a tad hot but please at how I managed it! Yey to us!

[@stuartcoates8991]

Good luck Claire, have a good race ❤

[@wildgingerruns]

Thanks Stu! You too!

[@worldpeacemarathon-i8q]

Heartily Invited you all the runners to "World Peace Marathon -2013" Nepal

[@wildgingerruns]

Thank you :)

[@markdawson2989]

Great video. I hope you have a great 50K race. I thought I'd mention to watch the battery life time when in course mode on your GPS. My Garmin Fenix 6 Pro ran out in half the normal time on course mode and I didn't take my charger on the UTMB TDS race. I'll be packing the charger while doing the100K Snowdonia next week. Cheers.

[@brentlatham5529]

Hmm, I feel like you need to get your watch checked (batteries don't last forever I guess) or maybe you just didn't have it fully charged. My watch now is 3years old and I'm not a fast runner, in fact I did the LDWA Pewsey Downsaround starting about 9ish and I finished about 8pm and with my watch constantly on map mode with live tracking on etc ...I mean I could have done the race again....well I couldn't but my watch could. I have no idea how long my watch could last with mapping features going etc but I would be very surprised if it couldn't last a 48hr run. So just in case, it's a Fenix 6x Pro.

[@markdawson2989]

@@brentlatham5529 My Fenix 6 Pro lasted about 25 hours with full map tracking on course mode. It's a good amount of time but not long enough for the UTMB TDS as I'm not fast. Its supposed to last 50 hours on normal GPS running mode which I'm sure it would, but not tried. The map mode uses up more battery, my watch was fully charged when I started. I'll take my charger and give it a charge half way round the UTS 100K as it'll probably run out an hour or two before I finish. Going by other routes the same as this, I'll be around 26 hours.

[@brentlatham5529]

@@markdawson2989 Thks for replying, I will definitely check my watch at the end to see how the battery life is. For a 24hr race then it sounds like the Fenix is fine which is probably why i haven't tested it to the max like you have. I don't think i can do 100k+ ultras because of the nutrition side but i have considered back to back marathon races...in which case I might need to charge my watch if there are three days of running or as you say two days of UTS 50k like runs. I will put in a reply after the race to let you know. You do the same please as i am interested. Even though i'm slow if i ever did a very long (time wise)100k race there is no doubt I am under the impression that my watch would be fine so...👍

[@markdawson2989]

@@brentlatham5529 I'll let you know how the 100K goes with my watch. It was a bit of a downer my watch going intantly dead with no warning, my old watch gives me lots of advance notice when battery is low. It contributed to me having a DNF at 2:00am on the second night after 100K at CP7, two thirds into the race. Nutrition is so important. I'd not like to do more than two days as the food would get quite grim having that for three days or more. I'd not manage more anyway. I was seeing dragons in the woods above Beaufort at the TDS as I hadn't fueled up for a while thinking I was almost at CP7, but took 2 hours to get down the mountain! Hopefully better luck this August.

[@brentlatham5529]

@@markdawson2989 Excellent. I totally understand, every time i go over a style i accidentally push the lap key but i live in fear of pausing it or not unpausing it! Anyway, you have my admiration for doing that distance no matter how slow. I am absolutely routing for you and look forward to hearing all about it afterwards. Take it easy, enjoy yourself and definitely don't let that watch run out of power 👍

[@MihaliWheeler]

Great video

[@wildgingerruns]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks!

[@rafamikula9126]

I'm not 100% sure but according to UTMB rules you not aloud to USE ANY PAINKILLERS. There is possibility off random testing and if found you could be disqualified.

[@wildgingerruns]

Oh yikes! Now where is that info? Haven’t seen it anywhere!

[@ColinVesty]

@@wildgingerruns It's in the runner's commitment (section 4 - Quartz program). No painkillers for 24 hours before the start or during the race. They are particularly concerned about NSAIDS such as Ibuprofen as they can lead to acute kidney damage if used in this type of event. There are a lot of articles on the web discussing the scientific research and UTMB are pretty adamant and strict about it.

[@furryfury.]

I was thinking about this. ITRA considers taking pain killers as doping.

[@wildgingerruns]

@@ColinVesty Oh gosh, thanks for this info, had no idea, would have thought something that important would be high up in the race info and obvious? Knew about Vitamin-I as they call it, but thought paracetamol was pretty standard eg for headaches, period pain etc. No idea how they'd enforce it though, compulsory drug testing for all UTMB runners would be quite a commitment. Cheers for the info!

[@wildgingerruns]

@@furryfury. Gosh! I'm likely to be right at the back and not tested, but had no idea paracetamol would be considered like this, glad someone has commented about it!

[@andys121.]

hope you beat Tom Evans :)

[@wildgingerruns]

Oh that’s the plan for sure… 😂😂😂

[@andys121.]

@@wildgingerruns 🤣🤣👏🏻👏🏻

[@wildgingerruns]

@@andys121. I'll just tie his laces together at the start...

[@virus3run20]

What are you going buy up mount snowdon with your £20 😂

[@wildgingerruns]

Didn't you know there's a shop up there? ;) Maybe a t-shirt saying "I climbed Snowdon the hard way" ;)