My Short-lived Encounter with a Race Belt

Ever seen people wearing race belts? Do you use one yourself? I've often wondered how useful they really are, having seen them worn in various races and listed as essential kit items in triathlon race packs. I've made do for years with a neoprene waist pack. It's certainly nothing fancy but generally it's done the job. But I allowed myself to be seduced by the idea of owning one and so in my order from MilletSports.

Sorry about photo quality, but it does show the toggles and reflective logo.

This one by orca has four toggles at the front to attach your race number, has three loops for gels and is adjustable. The logo is also reflective, which is a nice touch. I decided to take it for a test run fully loaded (sans race bib) to see how I got on.

Fully loaded with gels

I'm always nervous about wearing anything around my hips or waist when I run. It's a rare occasion that they fit properly. I've even had issues with the workplay bags designed especially for women. Unfortunately this was no different. The weight of the gels caused it to bounce and twist when I wore it around my hips, with the gels ending up in front or around the back, meaning the race number would have moved to the side and I couldn't make it small enough to sit tightly on my waist. It was such a pain that I'd taken it off and stashed it in a bush before I got to the end of my road, least than a quarter of a mile in to my run, so that I could run in comfort. The gels stayed in place though!

So I'll probably use this purely to hold my race number in something like a duathlon, but I'll be going back to my basic waist pack which can carry more gels plus my phone, plasters, tissues etc for longer runs. At least I tried.

Do you use a race belt? Does it work for you?

Disclaimer: MilletSports allowed me to choose products up to the value of £50 in return for a review on my site. All views are my own. The race belt was priced at £6.99 at the time of writing.