Middle Pack

The weather always seems to shine on the Rab Mountain Marathon!

After a cold friday night, runners are treated to a cloud inversion from the campsite as the cloud settled low into the valley covering Sedbergh. If you turned around the fells were basked in sunshine. It was 7.30am and it was already getting hot. Day 1 was going to be a very long 7 hours.

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I got this bag back in September and has been well tested in the months in between. These have included my daily commute, the OMM and various other days out in the hills.

On first inspection the thing that I noticed was the weight of this bag. Very lightweight, no frills bag. No strapping, no extra un-needed compression straps (although it does have some compression straps. Lightweight everything! It is currently weighting in at 335g. Making it just a tiny bit heavier than the new terra nova bags.

I much prefer the sleak black look and subtle styling as opposed to the in your face neon of the pro range. The lack of webbing and stuff hanging off it, not only makes it look better. It actually makes you think a bit about what you want and what you actually need from a bag. I like the webbing on the OMM bag as it is useful, yet I never use it? So how useful is it? I usually keep a bottle in the side webbing on my other bag and then have to nearly dislocate my shoulder to try and prize my bottle in and out of it. With the Inov8 one, I have just got myself shoulder strap bottle holders. easily sorted and a lot easier to access. I know i could have done that on the OMM one but I was determined to use the webbing for the purpose they were designed for, depsite being not fit for purpose.

The comfy chest strap seems to sit slightly lower than my OMM sack, This means extra stability and a lot less bounce. There is a whistle integrated into the buckle to ensure you never forget it. The waist strap has two integrated pockets for storing stuff you may need in a hurry. One is a showerproof pocket, which is handy for yuor mobile or generally things you do not want wet, whilst the other is a stretchy mesh pocket where I jam in sweets, flapjacks and gels.

It has a central zip, just like the previous range of Inov8 bags. This, I find both a good idea and a bad idea in equal measures. I just cannot decide if I like it or not? On the one hand, it is great for trying to find something that is in your bag should you need it. You do not need to empty your full bag to get to the bottom. On the other hand, it does make it slightly harder to pack, especially when you are trying to cram everything in. I guess because it is different to convential bags it will just take some getting used to. Don’t let it put you off as it works well, it just seems odd.

The quality of the bag is good, it still looks like new although it hasn’t had the same daily abuse as other bags I own. I am not sure if it would stand up to the abuse of a daily commute bag as it doesn feel so strong and robust but for its purpose as a lightweight race bag it is ideal.

The one downside to the bag is that it doesn’t have an option for a hydration bladder. Not much of a problem for myself for mountain marathons, but it is if you wnt to use it for other activities such as mountain biking. This may influence other peoples choice. If you want hydration bladder then you are better off looking at either the pro range or the OMM bags.

I would highly recommend this bag if you are trying to get your mountain marathon sack weight down, or if you are not one to traditionally use bladders on ultra runs. It is extremely comfy, functional and most importantly of all, it looks good!

With one week to go I have now pretty much got my kit nailed for the OMM.

Firstly let me apologise as its a bit of a long rambling post however as my first time in elite a lot of thought has gone into my kit.

There may be a few last minute changes but apart from checking the weather on the Friday evening prior to the event I have it all sorted. This isn’t a replacement to the excellent Planet Fear Annual roundup of suitable kit. This is my take on weight vs comfort vs performance vs cost.

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A glorious weekend was promised for the 2nd Rab mountain marathon and the weather really didn’t disappoint. A cold blustery Friday at camp turned into a glorious Saturday. A sharp breeze soon dropped and we were left with a cool sunny day and great visibility across the range of hills North of Skiddaw and Blencathra.

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This years OMM is looking to be a closely contested stormer of a competition. Many top names fighting it out for the top prize of Elite category winner. Here we look at a few of those teams who are in it to win it.

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