Traveling Light

The training is more or less done and I've spent the last few days sorting out my race kit and preparing my drop bags for the various check points.  The compulsory kit list imposed by the race means i'll be carrying a lot more than I'd like to so I'm trying to travel as light as possible by selecting my compulsory items based on weight.

The green jacket in the above photo is the Salomon Fast Wing Hoodie which I'm hoping will be allowed as my compulsory rain jacket with hood but as a back up I have the Montane Lite-Speed  jacket which claims to be the lightest weather resistant hooded jacket in the world.  Saving a few grams on a jacket might not sound much but when you add up all the grams saved it can make a big difference.  I've weighed all of my kit and have made a saving of over 1Kg as well as cutting down on bulk by substituting with lighter items.

I'll be wearing my trail shoes while traveling and carrying my race clothing in my carry on luggage just in case my main bag goes missing en route to Australia.  Most items can be replaced but not your race kit and especially not your racing shoes.

I remember when traveling to Jordan with Mark Pollock for the Dead Sea Ultra his bag went missing and we didn't get it back until after the race.  Luckily he had followed the wear and carry your race kit but he was missing a small tin of vaseline which was in his main bag and turned out to be irreplaceable.