As the nights draw in and darkness comes much earlier, the daylight and sunset runs of spring and summer quickly become a thing of the past. You need to light your run, but how are you going to do that?
A choice of torches
Loads are available these days, with a multitude of brightness settings and a good battery life.
Handheld torches
The most straight forward and adaptable option is of course holding a torch. When running in the wilderness in particular, it can feel comforting to have something you could clobber someone with if needed.
That said, it will impact your arm movement when running, making you slower and less balanced, as well as making it harder to use bottles or take on gels/food as you run.
Headtorches
This is my preference as it gives you complete hand freedom to run as normally as possible, and catch yourself if you trip when running through a wooded area or on uneven ground.
Headtorches of old would bobble around on your head with heavy battery packs. Some intelligent design and advancements in battery technology mean that your AAAs are now often stored at the back for better weight balance, or it has an internal battery which can be recharged via a USB, although these don’t necessarily last as long as AAAs.
Chest/body torches
With larger battery packs, a body or chest torch is another good option as they last longer and still keep your hands free. My view however, is that the longer battery life serves little purpose since wearing one with any form of running backpack is extremely uncomfortable. If the 2-4 hour battery life of most headtorches isn’t enough, you’d have to wear a backpack for fluids and fuel, making the chest torch a poor choice. The only exception to this would be a longer, lapped event such as the Endure 24 events which include night running hours, but offer the chance to drink and eat every 3-4 miles typically as you stop at the aid station.
Straps can be a little hard to adjust and restrictive until you get used to it.
When it comes to lighting your night time runs you’ve got plenty of choice these days and the right option will depend entirely on what you need. Use this post as your guide.
Written by Kyle Brooks, Running coach based in Norwich, Norfolk.
