100Km MANDATORY GEAR CHECKLIST (For 100Km Competitors)

100km MANDATORY GEAR CHECKLIST (for 100km competitors)

As a minimum each 100km participant will need to carry, at all times, the following items:

•  1 x long sleevethermal top(polypropylene, wool). Refer toExplanation of Requirements of Thermal Garmentsbelow for further information.Cotton, Coolmax and lycra garments are NOT suitable. Compression garments and thermal compression garments areNOTsuitable. Compression garments may still be used in the race but they are in addition to your mandatory thermal top and do not replace it.
•  1 x long leg thermal pants (polypropylene, wool). Refer toExplanation of Requirements of Thermal Garmentsbelow for further information.Cotton, Coolmax and lycra garments are NOT suitable. Compression garments and thermal compression garments areNOTsuitable. Compression garments may still be used in the race but they are in addition to your mandatory thermal top and do not replace it.
•  1 x waterproof and breathable jacket with fully taped (not critically taped) waterproof seams and hood. The breathability must be provided by the material itself and not exclusively by mesh panels. Minimal underarm vents are allowed if the jacket material itself is technical and breathable. Large mesh panels, even if covered by flaps are NOT permitted. A recommendation only, not a requirement, for a good jacket is one that has a waterproof rating of over 20,000mm hydrostatic head and a breathability MVTR rating of 25,000g/m²/25hrs. Any non-membrane jacket must still be in very good condition with waterproof coating intact. The jacket must fit you. Plastic rain ponchos, wind jackets, water resistant jackets are NOT suitable.
•  1 x beanie, balaclava or head sock (Buff)
•  1 x full-fingered lightweight thermal gloves (polypropylene, wool)
•  1 x high visibility safety vest that complies with Australian Standard AS/NZS 4602:1999 –D/N Class for day and night time wear.* It must be made of a combination of retroreflective and fluorescent materials. This is not a running vest but a workwear vest. It can be purchased at hardware stores or workwear stores for about $20. There will also be high-visibility vests available for purchase at Race Check-In (mostly as a service for international runners). The vest must have either AS/NZS 4602:1999 or AS/NZS 4602:2010 or AS/NZS 4602.1:2011 as well as Class "D/N" on the tag. The vest must be worn on road sections at night or anytime requested by race officials. The vest must be clearly visible from both the front and back, even when wearing your backpack so you must have an oversized vest that covers your whole torso AND your backpack. View Suitable Vest / Vest Tag
•  1 x headlamp. Test your headlamp on bush tracks at night prior to the event to make sure it provides enough light to both see the track and the course markings. Make sure batteries are new or fully charged and you have enough battery capacity / spare batteries. Click here to view the Petzl headlamp range. Click here to view some of the world’s best ultra runners using Petzl headlamps.
•  1 x small backup light in case of headlamp failure but sufficiently bright to see course markings while walking - Petzl E-lite is perfect.
•  1 x mobile phone** in working order with fully charged battery. Telstra is strongly recommended, as coverage on the course is far better with Telstra than with any other network.
•  1 x compass in the very unlikely event that you get lost. While a good quality compass such as the Silva Field 7 is recommended, you can bring any compass as long as the magnetic needle will settle quickly and will point to magnetic North. A waterproof watch compass is allowed as long as you can calibrate it and use it correctly. An iPhone compass is NOT acceptable as it is not waterproof and the batteries may be needed for making emergency calls.
•  1 x whistle
•  1 x emergency space blanket (or light bivvy sack or equivalent)
•  1 x compression bandage (minimum dimensions 7.5cm wide x 2.3m long unstretched). The wrapping should list ‘heavy weight cotton crepe bandage’ or ‘heavy cotton elastic bandage’ or ‘heavy weight elastic support bandage’. This item is used for the treatment of sprains or snake bite. Generally the pink coloured bandages are suitable and the white bandages not. There will be compression bandages available for purchase at Race Check-In (mostly as a service for international runners). View Suitable Bandages.
•  1 x lightweight Dry Sack. This is to keep the compulsory clothing dry (plastic bags or new Ziplock bags are fine but Sea to Summit Ultrasil dry sack is recommended)
•  Water bottles or bladders with a capacity to carry 2 litres of water
•  2 x food bars / food portions. You need to start each leg with 2 food portions and can eat these during the leg.
•  1 x Ziplock bag for your personal rubbish
•  1 x waterproof map case (or any other way to keep map and course descriptions protected such as map contact)
•  1 x course map and set of course descriptions which you will need to protect from getting wet using item above (provided in race pack). The course map is on one double-sided, A3 colour sheet.
•  1 x A5 participants emergency instructions card on waterproof paper (provided in race pack)
•  1 x race number to be worn on your front, over your belly or chest and be visible at all times (provided in race pack along with safety pins). The race number must NOT be worn on your pants or leg. The race number has a single disposable timing tag already stuck to it’s rear side. Do not fold, bend, cut or pierce the race number as you may damage the timing tag. It must be worn as is, unfolded. A recommended method of securing your race number is to use a race belt which allows you to easily have your number visible over the top of your outermost item of clothing. You will need to provide your own race belt if you choose to do this. View right and wrong ways to wear your race number.
•  1 x disposable bag timing tag (bag tag) to be secured to the back of your running backpack (provided in race pack along with a cable tie). Due to the timing tag it is preferable not to swap backpacks during the event but if you plan to do so you will need to have your own side-cutters or scissors to cut the timing tag (cable tie) off the first backpack and your own spare cable tie / zip tie to attach the timing tag to your second backpack. View instructions to attach your bag timing tag
•  1 x full box waterproof & windproof safety matches (provided by organisers and collected at Race Check-In)
•  1 x firelighter block for emergency use only Jiffy Firelighter (provided by organisers and collected at Race Check-In). You should provide your own ziplock bag or container.
•  1 x long leg waterproof pants.*** Must be waterproof but does NOT require the same other specs as the waterproof jacket ie it does not need taped seams, does not need to be breathable, may be plastic.
•  1 x 100-weight (minimum) long sleeve synthetic fleece top (100-weight fleece is equivalent to 214gsm Polartec Fleece).**** Must not be made of wool. The simple reason is because you will mostly need this item if it is wet and just above zero (if it were guaranteed to be dry weather for the race, a woolen fleece would actually be preferable). The fibers of a synthetic fleece will not absorb water. The fibers of a woolen fleece will hold water and feeling damp does make you feel colder and clammier. Also once the woolen top is wet it will never dry out for the rest of the race so there is a lot of work the breathable rain jacket would have to do. Therefore the wearer of a wet woolen fleece will continue to remain colder and clammier than if they were in a 'wet' synthetic fleece. VIEW example of a suitable 100 weight fleece.

Footnotes:

* The High Visibility Safety Vest (AS 4602:1999 - N Class for night time wear) must be worn at night when travelling on the following roads: Megalong Valley Road, the bitumen roads through Katoomba (from Farnells Road to the crossing of Cliff Drive), Willoughby Rd, Sublime Point Rd, Hordern Road, Coronation Rd, Tableland Road. You must also wear your reflective vest if entering Sublime Point Rd from Willoughby Rd from 4:45pm onwards. You must also wear your reflective vest when travelling on Hordern Rd, Coronation Rd and Tableland Road if entering Hordern Rd from Wentworth Falls walking tracks from 4:40pm onwards. The vest must also be worn at any other location if requested by race officials.

**Mobile phone coverage over the course varies from excellent at most escarpment / cliff top locations to non-existent when directly below cliffs on tracks such as Medlow Gap firetrail (between Tarros Ladders and Checkpoint 2). Generally you can get reception on hills and ridges across the whole course especially when you have views directly to Katoomba. We strongly recommend you have a Telstra phone. If you need to buy a new phone or a pre-paid SIM card or borrow a phone, Telstra is preferable as it works on approximately 90% of the course. Optus works on approximately 50% of the course. Vodaphone works on less than 30% of the course.

*** You will only be required to carry the waterproof pants if weather conditions are wet. A decision on whether you need to carry the pants from the start or if they need to be left with your support crew or placed into a specified drop bag for use during the event will be made at 4pm the day before the race and publicised at the 4:30pm Friday Race Check-In, at the Race Briefing and via the event app, event Facebook Page and Facebook Group.

**** There will be two different scenarios, based upon the weather, for what you will need to do with your 100-weight long sleeve synthetic fleece top:

SCENARIO 1. The fleece top may be compulsory from the start if weather conditions are expected to be bad.

SCENARIO 2. If not made compulsory from the start, the fleece top will be compulsory to carry from CP4 from 4:30pm and compulsory to carry from CP5 from 7:30pm. Depending on your speed, you will need to have your fleece available at either CP4 or CP5. Please read the following recommendations and decide which option will guarantee you have the fleece top in the right location for when it becomes compulsory:

a)  You will definitely be departing CP4 well before 4:30pm so you should put your fleece into your CP5 drop bag. Note that 69% of runners who made it through CP4 in the 2014 event departed CP4 before 4:30pm.

b)  You will definitely be departing CP4 after 4:30pm so you should put your fleece into your CP4 drop bag.

c)  You will be departing CP4 around 4:30pm or are not actually sure what time you will departing CP4; either put the items into your CP4 drop bag and carry them from CP4 regardless of the time OR have two fleeces with one in your CP4 drop bag and one in your CP5 drop bag. If you have a support crew, it will be easier for you as they can have your fleece available at CP4 and at CP5.

A decision on whether you need to follow Scenario 1 or Scenario 2 will be made at 4pm the day before the race and publicised at the 4:30pm Friday Race Check-In, at the Race Briefing and via the event Facebook Page and Facebook Group.

Explanation of Requirements of Thermal Garments

Suitable garments

The mandatory long sleeve thermal top and long leg thermal pants must be made of either a high performance synthetic material that is made up of fibres which are hydrophobic (ie they do not hold water) or they can be made of lightweight wool (wool does absorb water but it remains warm to wear when wet due to warm air being trapped in lots of tiny air pockets). Garments made of synthetic materials such as polypropylene, polyester and chlorofibre (PVC) are perfect as the fibres do not hold moisture. Garments made from these materials can feel slightly damp in wet conditions but that is because moisture is held in the tiny spaces between the fibres. As the fibres do not get wet these garments will actually dry out from your body heat while you are wearing them and there is no evaporative cooling effect as the moisture evaporates from the spaces between the fibres. Modern thermal materials may use a small amount of spandex, elastane or Lycra to provide greater shape retention, tighter fit and therefore greater warmth. Garments made of a material that is 94% polyester and 6% spandex are perfect.

Not suitable

Garments made mostly of synthetic materials such as lycra (a polyester-polyurethane copolymer) and coolmax (which is polyester with fibres amended so they do absorb moisture) are not suitable for this event as they hold moisture against your skin and they also wick moisture away very well thus causing substantial evaporative cooling. All compression garments are made of mostly lycra so they are not suitable as your mandatory thermals in this event. Cotton is also unsuitable as it absorbs water and holds the moisture against the wearer's skin. Unlike wool, cotton has no bulk to trap warm air so the wearer remains cold. In search and rescue circles cotton is called "The Fatal Fabric" and "Killer Cotton" for good reason - people die every year when caught out in the elements wearing cotton garments. Other people also caught out in the same conditions who are wearing synthetic and/or wool survive – it’s a very clear cut issue.

Further assistance

If you need further assistance, you are best to go to one of the early gear check stores: