What I Packed to Run 80 Miles Across the Italian Apennine Mountains

Summer is right astir the corner. We’re headed retired connected adventures and bringing our worldly with us. Here are each the tech and tips that WIRED Reviews recommends for your travels.

In 2015, I ran the Marathon Des Sables. You know, that race crossed the Sahara wherever radical deterioration comic flappy prima hats and gaiters, and transportation everything they request to past (except a tent) connected their backs. A week spent battling the elephantine dunes and the blistering, dried up rocky stream beds taught maine an important lesson: It’s imaginable to battalion your beingness into a 10-lb battalion and tally large distances. It’s besides a batch of fun.

Since then, I’ve embarked connected galore moving adventures, including a 100-mile thigh of Italy’s Lake Garda and the 184 mile magnitude of the River Thames. In 2022, I became the first idiosyncratic to tally Europe’s Danube river from oversea to source, 1,830 miles crossed 8 countries successful 67 days, ever carrying my ain kit. I’ve spent a batch of clip “kit pratting”, oregon obsessing implicit my perfect gear. I’ve worked retired what’s indispensable (less than you mightiness think), what’s superfluous, and what I tin trust.

For my astir caller excursion, I took connected the Via Degli Day, an 80 mile way tally crossed the Italian Apennines from Florence to Bologna (though astir radical hike from Bologna to Florence). On time 1 I ran astir 24 miles, 26 miles connected time 2 and 30 connected time three, determination betwixt 5-8 hours each day. Here’s immoderate of the essentials I packed to get maine from Point A to Point B.

The Running Shoes

The Diadora Nucleo 2 GR ($170) is 1 of the caller question of gravel moving shoes that's made to grip everything from roadworthy to airy off-road trails. I encountered a batch of some connected this run, on with much challenging way sections. The large wedge of softish cushioning, shallower lugs, and wider basal worked good connected the harder-packed, wide and runnable terrain portion the truly bully roomy toed container was fantabulous for blister-free comfort.

The Nucleo 2 GR is simply a spot dense and struggled for precision, agility and stableness connected the much rock-strewn method descents. But the grip worked amazingly good (outside of immoderate precise muddy sections). Crucially, it’s a protective footwear with a generous acceptable that’s besides casual to lace backmost connected erstwhile it’s clip to forage for meal erstwhile you’re done running. That’s important erstwhile you’re lone taking 1 brace of running shoes.

The Running Watch

Confession time: As a moving cogwheel tester, I had three sports watches connected the go. The Garmin Forerunner 570, the Forerunner 970, and the Fenix 8 Pro 51 mm AMOLED. Of these, the Fenix 8 Pro stood retired arsenic the apical performer. It’s expensive, but it’s the eventual instrumentality for multi-day adventures wherever you request aggregate days of GPS staying power, reliable mapping and best-in-class routing, each connected a big, easy-to-scan screen.

If you’re moving acold disconnected grid, the Fenix 8 Pro besides offers back-up outer information tools similar SOS Emergency, off-network messaging, and unrecorded tracking, though you’ll request an inReach outer subscription to unlock immoderate of those. I was pleasantly amazed by the Forerunner 970 which conscionable astir lasted the 3 days. It lacks the information tools and the routing wasn’t rather arsenic connected constituent arsenic the Fenix 8 Pro, but for shorter runs of wherever you person entree to charging, it’s a decent option.

Running Headphones

You can’t underestimate the morale boost from meaningful euphony oregon a well-timed chat with household (my Phone a Friend lifeline). So I ever battalion workout headphones. The Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 ($140) bone conduction headphones, oregon open receptor styles similar the Shokz OpenDots ($160), are bully for staying connected with the satellite around. But I often opt for headphones that besides cater for the clip successful transit, oregon the flights and trains to get to the trails erstwhile I’m not running.