100 Mile Race Gear List: A Printable Checklist for 50K to 100 Miles¶

Start with what your race requires. Then pack for the hours, not the miles: water, food you have tested, layers for the night, a light, and your phone.

That is the whole idea. The list below is the long version, written for the runner packing a vest the night before a first 50K and for the runner filling a crew bag for a hundred. Print it. Tick it. The last section is a blank row for your race's own required gear, because that list beats any list a stranger writes.

Pack for the hours, not the miles¶

A 50K might keep you out for five or six hours. A hundred might keep you out for a day and a half or more. The distance is a poor guide to what goes in the vest. The hours are a better one: how long between aid stations, whether the sun goes down, whether the weather turns, and how much you will need to eat and drink on the way.

Work out food and fluid per hour first. That number sets how much you carry between aid stations, and everything else in the pack is built around it. The free ultra fueling calculator works out carbs, fluid and sodium per hour, so the food line on this list becomes a real quantity instead of a guess.

Check your race's required gear first¶

Races write their own rules. Some ask for a jacket, a light and a whistle. Some ask for far more, and some check at the start line. Read the runner guide for your race, copy its list into the blank row at the bottom of the checklist, and treat it as the floor. For a closer look at required kit and what is worth carrying beyond it, see the ultra mandatory gear guide.

The printable checklist¶

Carry on you (vest or waist pack)¶

• ☐ Vest or pack, fitted and worn on a long run with the load you plan to race with
• ☐ Soft flasks or bladder, enough for the longest gap between aid stations
• ☐ Food you have tested on long runs, in the quantity you worked out per hour
• ☐ Electrolytes or salt, if your plan uses them
• ☐ Phone, in a waterproof bag or case
• ☐ Phone battery pack and cable
• ☐ Headlamp with fresh batteries, plus a backup light
• ☐ Rain shell or jacket (many races require one)
• ☐ Warm layer you can put on while stopped
• ☐ Hat or buff, and light gloves
• ☐ Emergency blanket or whatever your race requires
• ☐ Whistle
• ☐ Small first aid and blister kit
• ☐ Cup, if your race is cupless
• ☐ Trekking poles, if the course and the rules allow them
• ☐ Race bib, ID, and a little cash or a card

Wear¶

• ☐ Shoes you have run long in, with room for feet that swell
• ☐ Socks you have tested
• ☐ Shorts or tights, with nothing that chafes after six hours
• ☐ Top, with a spare ready for later
• ☐ Sun hat or visor, and sunglasses
• ☐ Watch, charged, with a plan for the battery on a long day
• ☐ Anti-chafe balm, applied before the start and carried for later

Your crew bag or drop bag¶

• ☐ Spare socks and a second pair of shoes, half a size bigger if your feet swell
• ☐ Full change of clothes, top to bottom
• ☐ Night layers: warm top, tights, a heavier jacket, gloves
• ☐ Spare headlamp and fresh batteries, and a charger or battery pack
• ☐ More of the food you know you can eat, and one or two things for when nothing sounds good
• ☐ Electrolytes and any medication you take
• ☐ Blister, chafe and sunscreen supplies
• ☐ Poles, if you plan to pick them up late
• ☐ Towel, wipes, and a dry bag for wet clothes
• ☐ A chair, if your crew is allowed one at that stop
• ☐ Notes: where you want your crew, and what you want to be asked

Drop bags work differently from crew bags, and the rules differ by race. The ultra drop bag planner goes through what to put where.

Before you leave the house¶

• ☐ Phone charged, and offline maps downloaded if the course has dead zones
• ☐ Course profile and aid station list printed, or saved where you can read it without signal
• ☐ Your crew knows where they are going and when you expect to be there
• ☐ Gear check against the race rules, written in the blank row below

Your race's own required gear¶

Write it here. Every line your race requires, in its own words.

• ☐ ______
• ☐ ______
• ☐ ______
• ☐ ______
• ☐ ______

What a trail running vest should hold¶

A vest is a carrying system for the hours between aid stations. It should hold your fluid, your food, your phone, and the layers you need if the weather changes. Put the things you reach for often on the front, where you can get at them without stopping: flasks, snacks, phone. Put the things you hope not to use at the back: the jacket, the blanket, the first aid kit.

Fit matters more than any feature list. Run in it loaded. A vest that bounces or rubs at mile three will bother you for a long time.

What to leave out¶

Most runners carry some weight that never gets used. After your long runs, take everything out of the vest and put back only what you used or what your race requires. A second shell you did not need or a gel flavor you never ate are the usual extras. Keep the safety items even if you did not use them. They are there for the day you do.

Layers for the night¶

The night is still the night. Temperature drops after dark and drops again as you slow down, and a long climb followed by a cold descent catches many runners without enough on. Pack a warm layer you can reach without taking the vest off, and plan on needing it even when the afternoon is warm. For more on running after dark, see night running for ultras.

Why the phone earns its place¶

Your phone carries the course, the clock, the photos, and the messages. It also carries your people. Out Here, which is free in NavRun, lets your crew watch you move and send voice messages you hear without reading or typing. You hear them hands free, so the phone stays in your pocket while you keep moving. It needs cell service to send and receive, so it is not a safety device and it does not replace the gear your race makes you carry. On a quiet stretch of a long night, a voice you know is a good reason to keep your phone charged.

Questions runners ask¶

How do I fuel during a 100-mile race? Work out how much you need per hour, then plan around the aid stations. The fueling calculator does that arithmetic. Practice the plan on long runs, because the race is not the day to try a new food. The ultra fueling plan guide goes further.

What gear do trail races require? It depends on the race, and it changes. Read your race's runner guide and write its list in the blank row above.

How much should I carry for a first 50K? Less than for a hundred, but the same logic. Water and food for the gaps between aid stations, a layer, a light if you might finish in the dark, and your phone.

Run the list once before race day¶

Do one long run with the full list packed, the way you intend to race. Eat what is on it. Wear what is on it. Put on the jacket in the rain if you get the chance. Anything that annoys you on that run will annoy you at mile sixty, and it is far easier to fix at home.

Start with the fueling line¶

If you take one thing from this page, work out your food and fluid per hour before you pack anything. The free ultra fueling calculator is the quickest way to do it, with no signup.

NavRun is for ultrarunners, and it runs with you the way ultrarunners run with each other: matching your pace, staying till the end. The craft is free.

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