The Running Kit Staples Our Editors Keep Coming Back To

Introduction

The best running gear is not always the newest. It is the stuff you keep reaching for season after season, long after the launch buzz has faded. This roundup collects fourteen of those long-term staples: marathon fuel, belts, glasses, shorts, jackets, base layers, gels, recovery shoes, a run bra, a watch, tape and an anti-chafe stick. Every item here has earned its place through months or years of real training, including marathons, ultra-distance challenges and daily running.

Maurten Drink Mix: The Marathon Fuel Nick Swears By

Maurten Drink Mix has been the constant behind every successful marathon this runner has done. It is essentially a large dose of carbohydrate delivered in a format that does not upset the stomach, with 80 grams of carbs per serving giving a steady supply of energy with no spikes or troughs. Carrying roughly 750ml in soft flasks during a marathon, plus one serving beforehand, has produced no bad marathons across three or four attempts. The one bad marathon in recent years came after switching to a gel strategy instead. It is good enough that the hassle of carrying three soft flasks feels worth it, and it has remained the main fuel source for two to three years.

Decathlon Kiprun Marathon Belt

If you are going to carry your own drinks in a marathon, you need a belt that can handle it. The Decathlon Kiprun Marathon Belt, now sold as the Kiprun hydration flask carrying belt, costs around £20 and is the best belt this runner has tried for carrying a serious load comfortably. You pick the size to match your waist, and the smallest size is a size zero, which is worth noting if you need something smaller. It carries three soft flasks, two gels and headphones, or on everyday runs a phone and all your essentials, held close to the body with no bouncing. The one concern is durability: after six to eight months of heavy use a small hole has developed, though that is with rougher-than-normal handling. It is not the prettiest piece of kit, but for races where comfortable carrying matters, it beats belts that cost two or three times as much.

The real test of a race belt is whether you forget it is there, and this one passes. It has stayed the top choice despite repeated testing of more expensive alternatives.

Oakley Plasma Photochromatic Prescription Glasses

For anyone who runs in prescription glasses, the Oakley Plasma photochromatic glasses are a genuine quality-of-life upgrade. Regular glasses steam up, slip down a low nose bridge, and fall off mid-run. These are properly built for sport, they darken in the sun, and they work in the dark too because of the photochromatic lens. The result is that contact lenses have been demoted to special occasions: hard sessions, races and filming. For a runner who trains almost every day, removing the daily contact lens routine is a bigger benefit than it sounds.

Saucony Dual Run 2.0 Shorts

The Saucony Dual Run 2.0 shorts are the pick for any race or fast track session where normal baggy shorts would chafe and flap. They use a dual-layer design with an extremely thin inner lining and a loose, comfortable outer shell that still sits close to the body without flying around. The rear pocket is a standout, holding around three gels during marathons. This runner owns two pairs, has bought them as a birthday gift for a friend running the Barcelona Marathon, and refuses to race in anything else. The trade-off is price: they cost around £80, which is steep for shorts. But for a big race, avoiding chafing is exactly the right place to invest.

New Balance Impact Run Light Jacket

The New Balance Impact Run Light Jacket has been in the range for about three years and reappears with each major marathon collection, which is good news for buyers because older colourways drop to around £30 to £40 after launching at roughly £70 to £80. It is not fully waterproof; it is more like a long-sleeve t-shirt with a hood that takes the edge off light rain and cold. The magic is in the packability: after a couple of kilometres when you heat up, you roll it up and stash it in its own waist pouch. That has saved countless runs that would otherwise have been abandoned because a heavier jacket became unbearable. This runner owns three of them and wears one on nearly every outing, whatever the forecast.

Given how often it gets used, a jacket found on sale for a third of its launch price is close to a running bargain.

Under Armour Tech Boxerjock

The Under Armour Tech Boxerjock boxer shorts, at around £30, are a simple anti-chafe base layer that earns everyday staple status. The four-way stretch fabric is soft and silky, they dry quickly after a run, and they are durable enough that two packs stay in constant rotation. The built-in waistband does not cut in or roll down, the short leg cut works under shorts that already have a base layer, and chafing simply does not happen when they are worn. Comfort, simplicity and price make them hard to beat.

Adidas Terrex Agravic Trail Shorts

Trail running shorts that turn out to be brilliant for marathon training is the pitch for the Adidas Terrex Agravic shorts. They have plenty of storage around the waist, including a gauze pocket, repurposed pole clips that hold small items, and a zip pocket at the side. The cut sits between cycling-short tightness and normal shorts, flaring slightly at the hem, so they are neither flappy nor restrictive. Recommended by a trail runner and bought with the runner’s own money, they have become a training staple heading into the hard block of marathon prep.

Gels for Training and Race Day: SiS Beta Fuel Nootropics and High5 Energy Gel

Two gels cover two very different jobs. The High5 Energy Gel is the dependable everyday option: 23 grams of carbohydrate in a 50-gram sachet, simple fruit flavour, liquid texture and genuinely easy to get down mid-run. It does everything a training gel needs to do.

The SiS Beta Fuel Nootropics gel is the specialist weapon. Each 60ml sachet carries a very large 200mg of caffeine, so timing matters if you ever want to sleep again, and you can only take one per day. But they work, delivering rocket-fuel levels of energy for the final miles of a long run or for firing off the start line in a 10K. Use them sparingly and they are brilliant.

OOFOS Recovery Sliders

OOFOS recovery sliders are squishy foam sliders worn after runs and races, and apparently after every trip out of bed at night too. The brand claims they are 37 percent more shock-absorbing than other foams, and whatever the exact figure, they are extremely comfortable. For a runner building mileage towards a marathon, they have become protection against plantar tightness: worn constantly, kept by the bed, and used to give tired feet a soft landing. They cost around £50 new and are often available for less, though heavy use shows, as this pair’s worn condition proves.

Brooks Dare Racerback 2.0 Run Bra

The Brooks Dare Racerback 2.0 Run Bra has replaced a discontinued long-time favourite and immediately won over a sceptical wearer. After an 18-mile long run, chafing was minimal, smaller than a five-pence coin, and the least this runner has ever experienced from a bra. The design keeps seams to a minimum, especially around the bottom band, and the fit delivers the strap-me-down, minimal-movement style that many runners prefer. It costs £55 and comes in cup sizes B to double F and band sizes 32 to 44, which is a genuinely broad range.

Garmin Forerunner 245

The Garmin Forerunner 245 is the pick for runners who want the basics done well rather than a wrist full of extras. It tells you how far, how fast and your splits, with a clear display that is easy to read at a glance. It is compact enough for small wrists, intuitive to use, and the battery is genuinely impressive: worn as a normal watch for a 10-day holiday with three runs logged and no charger, it was still alive on the flight home. Pricing has settled under £200, with non-current colourways sometimes found around £170. For a third Forerunner spanning years of use, the loyalty says a lot.

Proworks Kinesiology Tape and Two Toms Sport Shield

Two cheap, unglamorous items round out the list. Proworks Kinesiology Tape, at £6.95 for a box, is applied to the knee for patellar tendon support on longer runs, over blisters, or anywhere else a physio has shown it can help. Whether the effect is fully physiological or partly placebo, it gives confidence on the run, it is sticky enough to stay put but not aggressive when removed, and it comes in plenty of colours, including blue to match your kit.

Two Toms Sport Shield is a silicone-based anti-chafe roll-on stick discovered back in 2015 and used ever since before marathons, races and long Sunday runs over two hours. It creates a glide, does not mark clothing the way Vaseline can, washes off easily, and is small enough to live in a drop bag or trail vest. It is frugal too: two sticks covered 67 marathons in 67 days, with some left over. Expect to pay somewhere between £12 and £15 in the UK.

Buying Advice

Start with the problems you actually have. If long runs upset your stomach, a stomach-friendly drink mix matters more than any garment. If chafing is your enemy, an anti-chafe stick and a good base layer cost relatively little and pay off immediately. For race-day comfort, the shorts and bra you choose deserve the biggest budget, while packable layers and recovery shoes are best bought when they appear on sale. And if you want tech, a watch that nails distance, pace and battery life is usually a better long-term companion than a bigger, more expensive one.

Conclusion

None of these picks are flashy, and that is the point. Drink mix that never causes trouble, belts that carry everything without bouncing, shorts and bras that vanish on your body, and small aids that keep you moving: these are the pieces that quietly build better training weeks and better race days. Choose the ones that solve your specific frustrations and they may well still be in your kit bag years from now.