OK, I will try and start some dicussion. Besides clothing/hat/shoes, exactly what else will you carry with you when you run your next marathon? Are you a minimalist, who likes to travel as lightly as possible? A maximalist, who carries lots of supplies and gadgets? Or somewhere in between? I lean towards the minimalist side. If I had to decide today, I would say that I will carry a watch, car key, and some gels in the pockets of my shorts.

OK, I will try and start some dicussion. Besides clothing/hat/shoes, exactly what else will you carry with you when you run your next marathon?

Attitude

6 gels - 1st one 15mins before, again at 1:10, 1:40, 2:10, 2:40 and 3:10 - hope to finish by 3:30 1 small bottle of water so I have if needed but otherwise water stops get me by. I carry the gels and water in my running shorts that have a couple of built in fanny-pouches. I love these! last minute decision on the hat if weather is hot. Sunglasses a Timex Ironman watch and me.

I carry the gels and water in my running shorts that have a couple of built in fanny-pouches. I love these!

Hi Dave, What brand/model shorts have the built-in fanny pouches? That sounds interesting. Are they zippered? It would be nice to have a zippered pocket for my car key and/or other valuables. I'd prefer this over carrying a separate fanny pack. My favorite shorts are New Balance. They have regularly positioned front pockets that are fairly deep, but I always worry that stuff could still fall out of them since the pockets are not zippered.

Hi Dave, What brand/model shorts have the built-in fanny pouches? That sounds interesting. Are they zippered? It would be nice to have a zippered pocket for my car key and/or other valuables. I'd prefer this over carrying a separate fanny pack. My favorite shorts are New Balance. They have regularly positioned front pockets that are fairly deep, but I always worry that stuff could still fall out of them since the pockets are not zippered.

Adidas zippered pocket. If the link doesn't take you there, it's the "Response" running shorts. There's only one pocket, but I've found it to be well-positioned, very comfortable. If I need to carry more stuff, I use the raceready LD shorts, which have two velcroed pockets that are fairly secure.

With safety pins, I attach maybe five gels to the elastic waistband. When I rip them off (the gels, that is), the tabs stay attached and the gels are immediately ready to eat. After sucking one down, I play guess the flavor in my mind and then drink a cup of course water. The number of gels I bring depends on how plentiful and reliable I expect the course food to be. For mile-by-mile pacing, I wear my Timex 30-lap.

Other than shorts, tshirt, socks, shoes - I wear a visor, sunglasses and my heart rate monitor/watch. I'll carry 3-4 GU packets. I have a small, clip-on vecroed pocket by Amphipod that I clip inside my shorts at the back. Works fabulously. The outcome of my not being able to find the shorts that Daddyo described, plus it was only like $20. It's made out of neoprene so there is no irritation or chaffing. The clip is heavy-duty and locks when you snap it down. I don't like carrying much with me, so will rely on the provided Gatorade Endurance formula on the race course, although my preference is for e.Load. In the end, it doesn't really matter much what I drink as long as I'm replacing fluids and electrolytes. http://www.amphipod.com/080/080.html

Yes, mine shorts are by RaceReady. Hard to find (I got mine at a marathon expo). i am looking for anothe pair now!

They have them at ZOMBIE RUNNERS: http://www.zombierunner.com/