2019 Gift Guide for Trail Runners & Hikers: Goodies I Discovered This Year

For the fifth year in a row, I’m compiling a gift guide that’s basically a grab bag of fun, functional or (in the case of the books recommended below) fascinating things I discovered this past year.  PR people fill my inbox with press releases about products they hope I’ll include in a gift guide, but no, I only spotlight running-related things that I found on my own and like.

Disclaimer: I do this guide partly because I’ll get a very small commission if you click through most of the links below, so it’s a way to make a little money on an otherwise non-commercial blog. But you can trust that my recommendations are genuine and independent of sponsorship.

Now, let’s get to the good stuff!

Clothing

Dirt Pounders women’s shorts by rabbit

I’ve been a fan of rabbit shorts (the Hopper model for the past couple of years); this year, I discovered their Dirt Pounders 2.0 women’s shorts and used them all week long in the Grand to Grand Ultra. (Guys, they don’t make the same shorts for men, but this model of theirs looks comparable and good.) I love the 4-inch inseam with a split side, the roomy pockets, and the way the wide waistband rides snuggly and softly—not too tight, just right—on my hips. Zero chaffing. But rabbit shorts do tend to run big, at least in my experience, so if in doubt about sizing, size down. Use this code FRIEND-7MTKD6M to get 10% off at checkout.

Smartwool Merino 150 base layer short sleeve shirt & seamless racerback bra

This year, I started wearing more of the Smartwool brand because I love the feel, the breathability, and the magical not-so-stinky odor resistance. My new favorite bra is Smartwool’s Merino Seamless Racerback—no chafing, quick drying, super comfy. I wore it all week long at the Grand to Grand Ultra, along with the Merino 150 Base Layer Short Sleeve. I ran 170 miles in this shirt during the week, never washing it, and never got sick of it or grossed out by its smell (I noticed hardly any odor). I highly recommend it as an all-purpose running shirt. (Here’s the men’s version.)

Me wearing the Smartwool top, the rabbit Dirt Pounder shorts, and also the Raidlight pack recommended below.

Drymax Socks: lite trail-running 1/4 crew

Nothing beats Drymax socks for blister prevention thanks to its wicking and its anti-friction materials and design. You can see all their trail-running socks here. Personally I like the lite version with 1/4 crew so the sock goes high enough up the ankle to prevent slipping down in your shoe. These are the only kinds of socks I wear running. I’ve been wearing them for years—so they’re not something I discovered this year, like other items on the list—but I did discover new, fun patterns this year and got myself several new pairs.

Raidlight women’s Hyperlight MP+ waterproof jacket

This year, I also started using more Raidlight products, a European brand growing its presence in the US. This ultra-lightweight rain shell, the Hyperlight MP+, is awesome. (Here’s the men’s version.) Weighing just 3 ounces, it’ll block the elements, and it folds into a tiny stuff sack built into its hood. It doesn’t have side pockets or other features, it’s just a good-fitting, wonderfully simple but effective shell with breathability and no fuss. I really like how the hood fits, too. Hoods can be a problem — either they slip back, or they slip forward and narrow your vision. This hood fits just right and stays in place, whether I’m wearing a cap as pictured below, or without a hat. The left sleeve also has a nifty see-through window for your watch. It’s expensive ($220), and I question why they charge so much for so little, but I like it a lot, and I’ll definitely use it in next year’s rainy Mauna to Mauna Ultra.

Wearing the Raidlight Hyperlight MP+ Waterproof Jacket on a run above Telluride.

Raidlight Trail Touch gloves

These Trail Touch Gloves are terrific. The padding on the palms, for trekking pole comfort and fall protection, make them special. They fit great and have a smartphone-touch compatibility. They’re my new favorite gloves!

The Raidlight Trail Touch gloves, showing the extra padding on the palm.

Gear

Raidlight Responsiv 24L vest for fastpacking and stage racing

For multiday racing and fastpacking, Raidlight’s no-bounce fit and ample pockets prove superior to other packs I’ve tried. I really like this women’s Responsive 24L pack even though, as chronicled in this blog post, the cable side-cinching system broke mid-race (and I had to use the drawstring from my rabbit shorts to make a temporary fix). To Raidlight’s credit, they apologized and immediately shipped me a new pack as soon as I contacted them. I plan to use this pack again in May’s Mauna to Mauna Ultra self-supported stage race. (Here’s the mens’ version of the pack.) The pack has no dangling straps that get in the way, just neat-fitting zippers and cables. The roomy outer mesh pockets allow you to stuff lots more stuff in, and the clever chest-mounted loops for trekking pole holders work well. The pack rides as if it’s hugging your back, reducing the chance of chafing since bounce and rubbing are minimized with the snug fit. Now if only Raidlight would realize that women don’t necessarily like their gear produced in Easter egg pastel colors (a point I communicated to their rep, and he kindly agreed and passed on the word). I would love a pack in bold blue or forest green, or maybe orange, but pink-and-baby-blue will do for now.

Running with my Raidlight 24L pack in front of the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument last September. The outer pockets were stretchy enough to fit my flip-flops and other bulky items, thankfully. Look carefully and you’ll see the gaiters on my shoes recommended below.

Altra trail gaiters

I’m not a fan of Altra shoes (I wear Hoka Speedgoats), but when I needed some basic, trouble-free gaiters to keep grit out of my shoes, I chose Altra Trail Gaiters and am glad I did. The part that fits around the ankle is soft and effective but not too tight; they never bugged me or felt like they were trapping heat. The base fits easily by hooking the top to the laces, and attaching the back to a Velcro tab that you can affix to your shoe. (Altra shoes come with a built-in attachment, but if you wear a different shoe brand, no problem, it’s easy to apply the tab that comes with the gaiters.) They come in black or light gray, and I chose light gray because I didn’t want black fabric absorbing more heat from the sunlight.

Stock image of Altra trail gaiters

Kahtoola MicroSpikes traction devices

Last month, I started running over snow and ice again, and I treated myself to a new pair of Kahtoola MicroSpikes. The ones I bought seven years ago still work well, but I wanted a second set for our household; plus, the new design has rubber rather than metal on the top front part, which makes it a little easier to take on and off. The new version also comes with a handy stuff sack. I love these spikes because they’re so effective to prevent slipping. Others may go for the competing product by YakTrax (which I haven’t tried), but I’ve heard from others that Kahtoolas are much superior. The other day, I ran up an ice-packed dirt road that had melted-out stretches. Consequently, I repeatedly took the Kahtoolas off to run normally on the dirt, then put them back on to prevent slipping on the ice. They’re super easy to pull on and off—I can do it balancing on one leg—and when they’re off, they’re light enough that I can carry them in my hands as I run until I need to put them on again. I definitely will need and use these when I race the snowy/icy and steep Running Up for Air Grandeur Peak 12-hour event in February.

A side view of my new Kahtoola MicroSpikes on my Hokas. (My foot is resting on one of my planters, made from an old whiskey barrel, with a baby tree I planted last week; isn’t it cute? I hope it survives winter and grows so we can transplant it.)

Emergency bivvy

I believe all trail runners who go on backcountry adventures should carry an emergency bivvy—and it makes a great stocking stuffer for your survivalist friends. Most of you know to carry an emergency blanket to prevent hypothermia in case an injury or storm leaves you stuck on a mountainside. But a bivvy is so much better than a rectangular mylar blanket because you can get in it to generate body heat; it’s like two emergency blankets sewn together to make a body-sized pocket. I used my bivvy once on the trail and also at the Grand to Grand Ultra camp to stay warm, and it made me feel like I was in a hot pocket. This SOL brand weighs less than 4 ounces and fits in a palm-sized stuff sack.

UltraAspire waist light

I am a fan of two light sources when running/hiking at night—one, from your headlamp, and the other from your midsection to better illuminate the tripping hazards on the trail, and to provide lower-to-the-ground light when you’re in foggy conditions and a headlamp creates eye-level glare. Previously, I used a lightweight handheld flashlight. But when I moved to Colorado and began using trekking poles with more frequency, I realized I needed a hands-free secondary light source. Hence I bought the UltraAspire 600 Lumens 3.0 waist light. It works so well—it’s amazing! It’s super bright and easy to recharge. It also has an idiot-proof on/off button for when you’re fumbling or suffering from the stupids at night, and its light beam is easy to adjust up or down. It comes with a removable fanny pack, which you can use if you need extra pockets or leave at home if you just want the light on a strap; either way, the strap fits well, is easy to adjust, and doesn’t ride up. This 3.0 version is much lighter and smaller than prior versions. I’ll definitely use this waist light plus my headlamp when going through the night of the High Lonesome 100 next summer!

Stock image of the UltraAspire waist light

Books

Katie Arnold’s Running Home

I read at least one book a month this year and enjoyed several audiobooks, almost all non-running-related. The one running-oriented book I read is so special, and about so much more than running, that I plan to read it again in the new year, because it inspires both my writing and running.

Katie Arnold’s memoir Running Home will appeal to anyone who has navigated complicated relations with their parents (who hasn’t?), who has struggled with anxiety, who seeks adventure, or who grew up in the 1970s and faces midlife. And by “anyone” I mean men and non-runners too; this story, about a talented female ultrarunner and her intense relationship with her father, is so compelling that you don’t have to be a daughter-wife-mother-runner like Katie to be moved by it. After writing her memoir, Katie went on to win her 100-mile debut at age 47, the 2018 Leadville 100, in under 20 hours, which makes her backstory even more interesting to ultrarunning nerds like me. You can read my full review here.

If you want to develop “flow” for better running and creativity, then give yourself the gift of Katie’s writing/running five-day retreat to be held February 28 – March 3 near Zion National Park; full details here. It sounds like a fantastic retreat for runners and writers of all levels.

Katie Arnold and me at her book event last spring.

Brendan Leonard’s brilliant little books

I can’t get enough of Brendan Leonard’s satire and wisdom. I subscribe to his Semi-Rad blog’s Friday Inspiration newsletter. I listen to his podcasts (I loved his race report about the muddy nightmare of the Bighorn 100). I recommend his film How to Run 100 Miles to anyone interested in ultrarunning or who just wants to watch a heartfelt story about a bromance. I was so excited when he interviewed me that I felt a little flirty and mildly buzzed. (Sorry, Brendan, if I’m freaking you out with my fandom; don’t worry, I live six hours away, too far to “accidentally” run into you on a trail.)

At a time when so much humor is mean-spirited, and so many of us (especially men) are reluctant to show weakness, I’m drawn to Brendan’s nice-guy vulnerability and goofiness. His extensive experience climbing, ultrarunning and doing other outdoor hobbies makes him well positioned to observe some of the absurdities or hypocrisies of the outdoor industry and our zeal for adventure.

This year, Brendan published two books that capture the best of his essays and art (yeah, you can call his charts “art”). You should get both books, because each functions as an instruction manual for life and as an over-the-counter mood enhancer (one with a short-acting dose, the other an extended release).

ChArt Imitates Life is a thin 5″ by 5″ book that will make you put down your phone and sit on the toilet reading for much longer than you need to because it’s so funny and engrossing, expressing myriad weird things we do, and screwed-up ways we think, in spite of supposedly knowing better. It contains 104 of Brendan’s best charts and text blurbs that he began creating in 2016. Here are four pages to give you an idea:

Bears Don’t Care About Your Problems: More Funny Shit in the Woods compiles some 80 essays, each just two to two-and-a-half pages long, filled with life advice and short stories, many drawn from mishaps or observations during outdoor excursions or indoor work. Everyone should read the first essay, “Make This the Year of Maximum Ethusiasm,” as a new year’s manifesto. The other day, I sent my college-age kids his essay, “Love What You Do, Even If You Don’t ‘Do What You Love,'” to help them handle job hunting. Five minutes ago, I randomly opened his book and put my finger on this paragraph, from his essay “F*&# Busy,” proving that every paragraph is a nugget:

Well, seriously, fuck busy. We’re all busy now. Here’s how it happened: a long time ago, you weren’t busy. Then you got busy with a bunch of shit, some of it that you made up, and now you’re always busy. That time long ago when you weren’t busy, that would have been the time to take that big trip to South America or Scandinavia or Alaska, wouldn’t it? You didn’t have shit to do. Except you didn’t have any money. Now maybe you have money, but you have no time.”

Get the book and turn to page 134 to learn how to solve this problem and make a big trip happen.

Yitka Winn’s Beer Hiking Colorado

Full disclosure: I haven’t read this book, because it’s not out yet. But I know and very much like the author, Yitka Winn, and I know she’s a great writer, and who doesn’t love this title? It’s three of my favorite things strung together. Beer Hiking Colorado features 50 great hikes across the state paired with 50 local breweries. Yitka describes in her Instagram post: “The endless summer of 2016 in Colorado gave me a chance to spend several months on the road, traveling all over the state (from my then-home base of Ridgway in the heart of the San Juan mountains) to hike and sample craft beers. I got to visit corners of Colorado that I otherwise might never have seen, then spend a zillion hours trying to write about all those trails and breweries in a way that I hope inspires others to fully explore the state, too. I am so excited to finally share the fruits of that season with the world!” I’m getting this book for my husband (and for me). December 3 is its release date, and you can preorder it here. Cheers!

Me with Yitka in the summer of 2016, the same season she did her research for her book.

A signed copy of The Trail Runner’s Companion

My book The Trail Runner’s Companion: A Step-by-Step Guide to Trail Running and Racing, from 5Ks to Ultras is now two years old, but it’s still generating positive reviews like this one posted on Amazon earlier this month: “I have been reading Sarah’s blog longer than I have read her book. The book pulls together all her wisdom, which is immense, on the subject of trail running …. My personal copy is already starting to show signs of wear and tear after having read it so many times over. Absolutely recommended for those who are veterans of trail running as well as beginners.” (Thank you!) You can order the book through the link above; or, if you want a signed, personalized copy, then email me or message me through my social media, and I’ll get one to you. If you’ve read my book, you could give me the gift of a customer review through the link above, or a shout-out on your social media; reviews greatly help keep the book alive in search results, and I’d really appreciate it.

Speaking of books, my new year’s resolution is to develop a writing routine and work on a book project, with a goal to have another book published by the time I’m 55 (4.5 years from now). I’m not ready to share details about it, but I want to share my goal publicly to make it real!

I hope you like the things on this list. I encourage you to share your new year’s goals, or your running/hiking-related gift recommendations, in the comments below.