Is It a Running Belt, or Is It Just a Fanny Pack?

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running_beltLike most teenagers, I tried so hard to be cool in high school. So if you had told me that I’d own multiple running fanny packs as an adult, I bet my response would have been a quote from a dumb song about being young forever. Then, I would have asked you to delete my phone number.

Fast forward a few years, and I’m now the proud owner of three fanny packs for running. Or, are they running belts? Sometimes it’s hard to say.

That got me thinking—what is the difference between a running belt and a fanny pack? To find the answer, I dug three running belts out of my dresser and took a closer look.

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Why Are We Running a Ragnar Trail Relay Before a Marathon?

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In the immediate aftermath of our first Ragnar Trail Relay, all of us associated with Team Hot Bhattis licked our wounds and said that we’d probably never do it again. When we got back to Manhattan later that night, we all agreed that we should sign up for another one as soon as possible.

What’s a Ragnar Trail Relay? In the simplest terms, it’s an overnight relay race in the middle of the woods, during which 8 people run a combined 200(ish) miles. This year, we’ve signed up for one in Vermont. Sounds nice, right? There’s even a glamping option for out-of-towners that don’t want to bring their own camping gear!

But it also might be a terrible idea. Three of us are signed up to run the New York City Marathon this fall, with another three set up to race Chicago. On paper, squeezing in a Ragnar Trail in the middle of our training cycles probably looks kind of dumb.

So why are we doing it? Here are a few of my best guesses.

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