By HPRS Community Member D.M. Hess

In light of the ultrarunning tragedy in China and frequent conversations around personal and race director accountability, I have been thinking a lot about how I and others work to mitigate risk related to our participation in this sport.    This posting does not claim that I am doing it right, but is what I currently do.   Feedback (or feedforward) for improvement is very welcome.

About me.   I do not consider myself an ultramarathoner, but more along the lines of “once a runner” (borrowing from John L Parker) who is working to become a runner again.   I have been a member of HPRS for several years, though participated in an event for the first time in 2019.   I do consider myself relatively risk averse and admit that I often overpack for a run.   With that said, I almost always run alone outside of races…spending solo time in training and fat ass runs.

I tend to break down my preparations in a few pretty loose buckets…comfort, safety, and insurance.    Below is a picture of my normal pack load (outside of food, drink, hat/gloves, Garmin watch, and special items specific to the run such as a better headlamp if I expect to be out in the dark).   I don’t have any ties to the companies for this gear, just am a customer.

Comfort.   Anti-chafing wipe, toilet-related items, sanitizer, medications (Pepto, Ibuprofen, allergy med), inhaler, and running jacket.

Safety.   Customized first aid kit, survival blanket, small headlamp and Spyderco Native knife.

Insurance.    For this category, I include the Garmin Inreach Mini emergency communicator (with annual subscription and rescue insurance), my Road iD, phone, and thin battery charger.

As mentioned, I pack a lot, but hope to keep myself as safe as possible and help others that I could come across.

On the training side, I am hoping to take the Wilderness First Responder Course in September.

I know I can improve what I do and am interested in what other HPRSers do to mitigate risk out there.