Packing for the Saunders Mountain Marathon

This was my first ever mountain marathon. I’ve had people come up to me for years and say “I can’t believe you haven’t tried one of these - you love hiking, running and navigating, it’s the perfect event!”. But I was so worried, I wasn’t a super fast ultra runner or elite orienteer. So, I was too scared to sign up.

Until someone told me about the Saunders. It’s in summer, you can order a G&T at camp. It’s fun. My friend Emma and I decided to sign up - we met at our Mountain Leader course, where we’d drilled micro navigation and were on our feet for hours. Not to mention she was a brilliant fellrunner and had just come 4th at the Fellsman a few weeks earlier. It sounded like we would be the perfect team.

Before the event, kit was all I could think about. Since I wasn’t sure if I’d do another event like this, I didn’t want to spend a huge amount. So I set myself a limit of £100.

Gear

An event like this requires a lot of gear, so here’s my low-buy list:

Pack

Here’s where all the money went - Emma said she got her ultimate direction pack on Facebook marketplace. So, I kept trawling the listings before the race. I’d tried her pack and it was really comfy, so I was keen to get the same. I finally saw one, it was the older 35-litre model, but looked exactly the same. I even preferred the colour of this pack.

£65 on Vinted and I finally had a pack.

Tent

Well, this one’s a bit frustrating. The Reddit hivemind was going off about this tent from AliExpress. The cost to weight was the best out there, and as a trekking pole tent it would be even lighter since I’d be taking my poles. Shipping was quick - too quick. It arrived when I was at work, and the delivery driver chose to put it right on the porch. Of the wrong house. In full view of the street. Of course, it was stolen. No new lightweight tent for me!

Instead, I used my trusted decathlon trekking tent. It was double the weight, coming in at 1.9kg, but Emma and I split the poles and pegs from the tent itself, to better split the load. At least I knew this one would hold up in the hammering rain and wind.

Sleeping Bag

Another goof - Emma was supposed to bring a spare lightweight bag, but completely forgot. Luckily I’d brought my usual sleeping bag, which can pack down quite small. Again, not super lightweight coming in at 1kg, but I knew it was rated to 0°.

I had a really comfortable night, but it was heavy and bulky. Next time I’ll downsize. I’ve heard good things about the integrated RAB sleep system.

For a pillow, I used my sleeping bag sack and stuffed any spare clothes I had in there. At the race, I then bought a 65g pillow instead, which I plan to use next time. I then won’t take the stuff sack, but just put it directly in my dry bag as I had it in there anyway. Saves a small amount of weight.

Sleeping Pad

Side sleeper here - I can’t go without a pad. I’ve been shown the light. Themorest Neoair. A classic, and I love it. I have the men’s version because I’m too tall for the women’s. I’ll definitely bring this again. The high R value of this pad means I can probably get away with a lower-rated bag too.

Survival Bag

Harrier coming in handy here, I already had this from an ultra race where it was part of the minimum equipment. I’ve not used it, but I’ve been told it’s really good if you want more insulation in the tent.

Waterproofs

Dear Reader, here I fucked up. Living in London puts you in this weather bubble. It was glorious sunshine for days. I’ve done my mountain leader and experienced first-hand how dramatically the weather can change at altitude. This just didn’t register with me.

My waterproof jacket was purchased to meet the minimum requirements for my first ultra. In Morocco. It weighs 160g. Let me tell you - it did not work. I was drenched down to my sports bra. It did a great job of stopping the wind (otherwise I’d probably have DNFd, seriously) but little else. Apparently the see-through design is purposeful so “your race number can still be seen through the jacket”. British Mountain weather is a different beast. Next time I’d take the weight handicap for a decent jacket.

You can see my t-shirt through the jacket here…

Waterproof trousers were made by a British brand, and heavier. I’ve had no problems with these, even hiking for over 7 hours in driving rain. Didn’t use them here, I just chose to get wet legs. They came in handy in the campsite later though.

Food

Dinner was of course a dehydrated meal, I chose one that had 1000 calories as I’d definitely need the energy. This was the right call, I guzzled that meal down in minutes.

Breakfast was porridge, though our tent neighbours had dehydrated 1000 calorie porridge too, rather than my pathetic pouch. Next time I’ll choose this option, and perhaps not even bring a mug.

Snacks

Emma made sandwiches for lunch, I was jealous of the real food. I had flapjacks, clif Bloks, belvita, Haribo and jelly babies. Definite love for the flapjacks, these were so good. Nice mix of savoury and sweet, whilst keeping my fueled. Always a fan of clif bloks, the energy to weight ratio is top. Haribos were hard to eat in the cold. Not bringing again.

Jelly babies - easy sugar hit, lots of carbs. They were heavy though, bloks were possibly better here.

Water

Another area where my lack of experience was clear - I brought two soft flasks, totalling 1kg of water carrying ability. Normal, right? Not for a mountain marathon, turns out most competitors bring a cup, flask or even the map itself and dip into streams for water. No treatment, no carrying with you.

Due to the inclement weather streams were abundant. I could have absolutely done this. In the end, I finished with 500ml remaining and absolutely wishing I didn’t carry that weight.

Clothes

Fairly unremarkable, I had a light running t-shirt, sports bra and bike shorts (less chafing!). I always use stance socks, I’ve just found they work well for me.

Part of the essential kit list was long trousers, so in my dry bag I had a pair of light lululemon leggings. I put these on at camp and didn’t take them off, running in them for Day 2. Although it did get warmer, I didn’t overheat in these and much preferred them to the soaking wet shorts (which didn’t dry overnight).

Shoes

This was a new one, I just assumed trail runners were the best option here. Well, this was the weekend I learned about the existence of fellrunning and orienteering shoes. Much grippier on the slick mud and grass and a thinner sole to avoid twisting your ankle. My shoes were great for the paths and wet rock, the areas above they did struggle. Plus, plowing through a bog or river with white trail runners is a funny sight in the Lake District. My Nordas are great, but this wasn’t quite their forte.

Spare Clothes

Spare socks and underwear. I’m not an animal.

Camp Gear

• Stove & gas
• Alpkit mighty mug, allowed us to book water and eat from. Small gas canister, lightweight stove. Pretty standard stuff. Definitely not an occasion to bring my jetboil.
• Cup & spoon. Collapsible sea to summit mug for morning coffee. Emma was being a coffee snob and brought her aeropress - which was a welcome luxury! Next time I’ll just bring a coffee sachet (latte + sugar) to make things easier.
• Plastic bags. Too small. Learnt this the hard way. I have big feet. And therefore wet socks. Seeing other competitors with giant Sainsbury’s bags sticking out of their shoes was hilarious, but functional!
• Two wetwipes
• Earplugs, toothbrush (almost sawed this but too much effort), toothpaste.
• Didn’t bring the eye mask, used my buff. Highly recommend.

Conclusion

This was an incredible event, I really enjoyed it. Another way to make running even more fun and adventurous. I can’t wait for the OMM in October!