How to look sharp when it’s hot: lessons from a half marathon

It’s now 2 days to go til May 15, when I will be running a half marathon in a bright blue suit as a fundraiser for fragile X syndrome. With 77 minutes of running and sweating I need the suit to be as cool as possible.

To help decide what material to go with, I talked to a very experienced tailor, Bonham Strand, who fitted my suit in Hong Kong. They are very generously sponsoring my suit. In addition, I’ve also been doing my homework, gathering tips from the other record breakers. Here’s a few things I’ve picked up along the way.

WEATHER FACTOR

Rex Woodbury, who broke the record in New York in March, says that even though he was running in cold New York march weather, “I was a bit surprised by how stuffy and uncomfortable it was. But I don’t think it slowed me down that much.”

It was around 0–3 degrees C in NYC on Rex’s race day, around 10 degrees cooler than I can expect it to be in Sydney on May 15th. It was 6–10 degrees in Reading for the next attempt, so my race is on the warmer end of the spectrum by comparison. It seems the weather is a key factor.

‘SUCKER OR NOT?

By far the biggest hazard for this record attempt is overheating, so a key decision is what material to run in. Several of the others, including Nick Mizera, who broke the record last year, have run in a suit made with merino wool.

The tailor that is making my suit did float the idea of seersucker. The jacket I tried was so light, but I was a little worried about the possibility of chafing with this material. A tip I picked up from another record holder was that the suit trousers can give chafing on the knees. So, I decided to stick with wool.

EVERY GRAM COUNTS

I preferred to minimise weight with a few James Bond-esque modifications: no polyester lining to reduce weight and heat, all pockets removed, except one for my phone and making the jacket and trousers slightly short so less material.

Amarasiriwardena, the current official record holder, ran in a suit that stretches and pulls sweat away from the skin. In a similar way, the Bonham Strand tailor said they could add some lyrca to the wool. However, he warned that some customers don’t like the fact that this makes the suit hotter, so that disuaded me from this option. Instead, we decided to give me a bit more room in the suit to aid the running motion.

PARACHUTE RUN

Another challenge is the wind and the effect it has on turning the suit into a mini parachute. This could be a very real hazard for the Sydney race as much of the course follows the harbour front. I’ve run half the course in the Sydney harbour 10k last July, and the wind near Darling habour really slowed me down.

Mizera got around the parachute effect after testing it out on practice runs, by using a bib belt with his number to hold the jacket closed. He also pinned down his tie and pocket square for the same reason.

All in all, I feel like I’ve learnt a lot from those who have gone before and from the tailor. I’ve put these ideas into practice in my training in an old suit. I’m still a little apprehensive as I have only had a few days to practice in the real race suit.

But I’m confident that with my team behind me, a great suit, my Brooks shoes and a solid 3 month training block in the bag I’m ready to give this record my best shot.

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I’m more than half way to my $2000 fundraising goal. To give, or to find out more see: https://smh2016halfmarathon.everydayhero.com/au/half-marathon-in-a-suit